Story By: Alex Cope, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Golder’s News And Sport
Diego Maradona is planning to sue Netflix over a film about his life from an Oscar-winning director which is set to be released on the platform.
Maradona’s lawyer Matias Morla announced that the footballing icon is set to take on the streaming giant in the Italian courts.
Maradona, 59, says he did not give Netflix permission to use his image for their upcoming film ‘The Hand of God’, directed by Italian filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino.
Morla said in a statement he posted onto Twitter: “Diego Maradona did not authorise the use of his image for this film. With our colleagues in Italy we are now drawing up the legal strategy to file a formal complaint with the justice system for the improper use of a registered brand.”
The film’s director, who won an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 2013 for his film ‘La Grande Bellezza’ (The Great Beauty), was born and raised in Naples, where Maradona shone for seven years as a Napoli player.
Maradona previously sued Japanese video game producers Konami for including him in their game PES 2017 without his permission.
Local media outlet Infobae report the two parties reached an agreement in May this year, with the company paying an unspecified sum to be used to build football pitches for children in Argentina.
Maradona expressed his anger last year at the film Diego Maradona: Rebel, Cheat, Hero, God from British director Asif Kapadia, telling his fans to avoid watching it as he was annoyed he had been depicted as a “cheat”.
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