Diego Maradona says he would have been ARRESTED if VAR existed when he scored ‘Hand of God’ goal against England at 1986 World Cup: ‘You can’t steal in front of 80,000 people’
- Diego Maradona scored against England with his hand at the 1986 World Cup
- It was dubbed the ‘Hand of God’ goal after Maradona’s post-match comments
- He has said he would have been arrested if VAR had existed at that tournament
Diego Maradona has admitted he would have been ‘arrested’ for his goal against England in 1986 if VAR had existed.
The iconic Argentinian midfielder famously punched the ball past Peter Shilton in the England net when the two sides met up at the quarter-final stage of the World Cup.
Maradona claimed he had headed the ball into the net and referee Ali Bin Nassar allowed the goal.
Diego Maradona scored against Peter Shilton by punching the ball past the goalkeeper
He admitted in an interview with Robert Pires that he would have been arrested with VAR
How the Daily Mail reported Maradona’s Hand of God goal the day after the England game
The incident became known as the ‘Hand of God’ goal after Maradona commented in his post-match interview that he had scored ‘a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God.’
The diminutive Argentinian also scored what has been dubbed ‘the goal of the century’ in the same game
But he has now admitted that if modern video assistant referee technology had been around, his punishment would have been far more severe.
He says he would have been arrested as he had stolen in front of 80,000 people
Interviewing Maradona for Bwin, Robert Pires asked: ‘What do you think would have happened in the England vs Argentina match of ’86 if VAR had existed?’
‘I would have been arrested. Because you can’t steal in front of 80,000 people,’ Maradona joked.
Pires replied: ‘What 80,000!? The world! Which was it, the left (hand)?’
Maradona raises his left fist in the air before saying ‘this one’.
He continued: ‘I did “tik-tik” and I put my head right behind it and (Terry) Fenwick said “Hand! Hand!” “What hand? Goal!!” I tell him, “Goal!!”.
Maradona also explained how he managed the audacious feat during the video
Advertisement