Reuters: Sports News: Maradona denies he owes tax on return to Naples

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Maradona denies he owes tax on return to Naples Feb 26th 2013, 19:15 Tweet Share this Email Print Related News UPDATE 1-Soccer-Italy tax authority denies Maradona pardon Fri, Feb 1 2013 Former Argentine soccer star Diego Maradona gestures during a news conference in Naples February 26, 2013. Credit: Reuters/Ciro De Luca NAPLES | Tue Feb 26, 2013 2:15pm EST NAPLES (Reuters) - Argentine soccer great Diego Maradona denied he owed millions of euros in unpaid Italian taxes on Tuesday after he was mobbed by media and fans on his return to Naples where he twice led the local team to league titles. The tax collection agency says it is owed almost 40 million euros ($52.3 million) by the former World Cup winner, most of which is interest built up since 1984 when he joined Serie A club Napoli. "I am innocent," Maradona told a news conference in the southern Italian city. "I want to believe in the Italian justice system - I don't owe them a lira." He said he wanted to clear his name so he could return to Italy, a nation he loves, without being chased for the debts. The country's authorities have long pursued him, seizing diamond earrings when he visited a weight-loss clinic in northern Italy in 2009 and stripping him of two watches when he went to Naples for a benefit match in 2006. "I wanted to tell you all that I can feel, again, the air of Naples in all of my body," said Maradona. "I have wanted to come to Naples for a long time but there was something that wouldn't permit me and I can't understand why." Maradona, one of the world's greatest players, is still Napoli's all-time top scorer and is venerated like a saint in the city for leading the club to the Serie A title in 1987 and 1990. The 52-year-old, who also led Argentina to victory in the 1986 World Cup, was mobbed by photographers as he arrived for the conference while Napoli fans chanted 'Diego! Diego!'. ($1 = 0.7649 euros) (Writing by Catherine Hornby, editing by Tony Jimenez) Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (0) Be the first to comment on reuters.com. Add yours using the box above.

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