Referee who allowed Maradona ‘Hand of God’ set to make millions

The soccer which Diego Maradona used to rating his ‘Hand of God’ objective in opposition to England on the 1986 World Cup is set to go to public sale subsequent month with an estimate of £2.5-£3million.

Argentina star Maradona famously punched the ball past England goalkeeper Peter Shilton to open the scoring within the quarter-final conflict on the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.

He adopted up the controversial incident by claiming an excellent solo second, which has turn out to be often known as the ‘Goal of the Century’, because the Three Lions exited the event with a 2-1 defeat.

Referee Ali Bin Nasser, who took cost of the tie and failed to spot the handball, is the proprietor of the ball. It might be bought by Graham Budd Auctions on Wednesday 16 November.

The Tunisian match official mentioned he felt it was the fitting time to share the merchandise with the world and expressed hope the client would put it on public show.

Speaking of the handball objective, he mentioned: “I couldn’t see the incident clearly. The two players, Shilton and Maradona, were facing me from behind.

“As per Fifa’s instructions issued before the tournament I looked to my linesman for confirmation of the validity of the goal – he made his way back to the halfway line indicating he was satisfied that the goal should stand.

“At the end of the match the England head coach Bobby Robson said to me: ‘You did a good job but the linesman was irresponsible’.”

Maradona, who died in November 2020, claimed the objective was scored “a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God”.

Auctioneer Graham Budd mentioned: “With the history surrounding the ball, we are expecting this lot to be hugely popular when it comes up for auction.”

Argentina went on to raise the World Cup following victory over West Germany within the last.

Maradona’s shirt worn through the quarter-final bought in May for £7.4m, a brand new world document for any piece of sporting memorabilia.

Bin Nasser’s shirt from the England-Argentina match, as well as to a signed shirt he later acquired from Maradona, may also be accessible at subsequent month’s public sale.