The Italian fashion house, Dolce & Gabbana, was sentenced to pay 70,000 euros in compensation to Argentine soccer legend Diego Maradona, after his name was used for commercial purposes in 2016, according to one of his attorneys, told AFP on Wednesday.
The ruling also notes that the Italian house is also fined to pay Maradona more than 13,000 euros in compensation to cover the lawyers ’fees.
The roots of the legal dispute date back to a fashion show in the southern city of Naples in 2019 in which one of the models wore a blue shirt for the Napoli football team with the name Maradona above the number 10.
This was done "without obtaining Maradona's approval or contacting him," lawyer Ulissi Correa told AFP.
"Dolce & Gabbana defended herself, saying that what she did was a gesture of honor to Naples, but that was a fashion show with a commercial dimension," he added.
Correa pointed out that "the only party authorized to use the name and image of a person of this fame and benefit from it is the same person."
Maradona, via Instagram, praised this decision, and wrote, "Honorary gestures are great, but I think they should have requested the permission to use my name during the presentation of their outfits. This is a positive point in favor of the judiciary."
The judge indicated that the value of the compensation takes into account that the trademark did not produce or market clothes bearing the name Maradona, and consequently, the amount of compensation awarded by the judiciary was limited to 70 thousand euros while the player was demanding one million euros.