Italian tax collection agency set to sue football legend Diego Maradona for defamation

Argentine football legend Diego Maradona faces a potential defamation case after being hounded by Rome prosecutors for slander of Italy's tax collection agency.

Prosecutors allege that Maradona claimed to be victimized by persecution by tax collection agency Equitalia, after producing false documentation and seeking irregular procedures, reports oglobo.net. Equitalia accused Maradona of debts of 40 million euros in 2012 for not paying income tax in the 1980s when he played for Serie A club Napoli.

The decision would be taken by judge Chiara Giammarco in a court in Rome and would disclose his decision on March 18.Maradona, however claimed he was never 'informed' of the request for payment of taxes and insisted it was 'a mistake of the agency'.

In an attempt to recover some debt, Equitalia tried confiscating Maradona's earnings in 2010 and seized a Rolex watch valued at 11,000 euros from the Argentine in 2006.