‘Hand of God’ ball to fetch £2.5m+ at auction

October 14 – The ball used by Diego Maradona to score his notorious ‘Hand of God’ goal against England in the 1986 World Cup quarterfinal has been put up for auction by the Tunisian referee who was in charge of the game and missed the most infamous handball in history.

Graham Budd Auctions say they expect the Adidas ball owned by ex-referee Ali Bin Nasser to fetch between £2.5 million and £3 million when it goes up for sale in Britain on November 16 – four days before the World Cup in Qatar kicks off.

The shirt worn by Maradona in the same game in Mexico was sold in May for £7.4 million.

Argentina won the game 2-1 with Bin Nasser allowing Argentina’s opener, which saw Maradona punch the ball past England goalkeeper Peter Shilton.

The goal became known as the ‘Hand of God’ after Maradona later claimed that it was scored “a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God.”

Conversely his second goal, in which he sensationally dribbled past player after player, has been dubbed goal of the century.

The ball will be on display at Wembley stadium next month ahead of being auctioned with bidders able to register and bid online in advance.

“This ball is part of international football history – it feels like the right time to be sharing it with the world,” said bin Nasser.

“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.”

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