FIFA have come down heavily on Diego Maradona for his controversial comments over England’s win against Colombia in the last 16 of the competition.
England booked their place in the quarterfinal in a dramatic fashion by beating the South Americans on penalties after a 1-1 draw. Gareth Southgate’s men looked to have emerged victorious from an ill-disciplined match courtesy of Harry Kane’s penalty. However, Yerry Mina equalised in the closing seconds of stoppage time to send the game into extra time.
The extra 30 minutes could not yield and goal and the shoot-out followed. England looked to be set for more agony when Jordan Henderson’s penalty was saved by David Ospina. However, Mateus Uribe smashed the following kick on to the crossbar. Carlos Bacca’s shot was then brilliantly saved by the England goalkeeper before Eric Dier scored the winning penalty for England.
However, England’s victory seemed to have upset Maradona, the man who had infamously scored the ‘hand of god’ goal against the Three Lions in the 1986 edition. And the Argentina legend did not refrain from expressing his emotions.
The Argentinian, who is being paid £10,000-a-game to work as an ambassador for the governing body at the World Cup, stated that England committed a “monumental robbery” during the game. He also said that referee Mark Geiger should have penalised Kane in the build-up to England’s second-half penalty.
Speaking to Venezuelan broadcaster Telesur on Wednesday, he had said:
“I saw a monumental theft. I apologise to all the Colombian people, but they must know the players are not to blame.”
“It is the man who decides who the referee is who is to blame. A man like that (Geiger) should not be put in charge of a game of that magnitude.
“With all due respect, Pierluigi Collina, as the man who designates the referees, he is very bad. He must apologise to the Colombian people,” added Maradona who was photographed before the game wearing a yellow Colombia jersey.
“I told (FIFA president) Gianni Infantino that if I worked for FIFA I would change everything. It has to be transparent. That’s why I didn’t go there.
“The referee will know a lot about baseball, but he has no idea about football. The Colombian players asked for VAR and he did not give it to them,” he further added. “Twice the English threw themselves to the ground and he did not admonish them. This was theft.”
FIFA, meanwhile, were quick to refute Maradona’s claims. The apex body of the game stated that Maradona’s ‘insinuations’ were ‘entirely inappropriate and completely unfounded.’
“At a time when FIFA is doing everything within its power to ensure principles of fair play, integrity and respect are at the forefront of this World Cup and how the organisation is now run, FIFA is extremely sorry to read such declarations from a player who has written the history of our game,” FIFA stated.
Maradona, meanwhile, has been hitting the headlines for several reasons in the ongoing competition. From making an offensive gesture toward South Korean fans, raising his middle fingers towards fans to smoking cigars, controversy’s favourite child has hogged all the limelight.
