Footballer Wanted to Take Antiquity?

According to Italian newspapers, Argentine footballer Ezequiel Lavezzi, a striker for Paris Saint-Germain, is being investigated allegedly for attempting to smuggle a Roman statue out of Italy, during his multi-million pound transfer in May 2012 from Italian club Napoli to Paris St Germain. 

The alleged theft dates back to May 2012, as the Argentinian was preparing to leave Napoli football club for Paris, International Business Times Italia reported. Customs officers making a routine check found the statuette in his luggage as he was about to embark a private jet at Capodichino airport. Lavezzi claimed it was “a gift from a Neopolitan who lives in Posillipo,” prosecutors said.

Reports that it was a "marble bust from Pompeii" are being denied by Culture officials.  It is alleged that the item found at the airport was a fragment of a terracotta antefix of the 1st century BC/1st century AD.

The Local, 'Paris striker accused of Pompeii relic theft', 10 Jul 2013

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