July 26 – Diego Maradona has admitted that his infamous ‘Hand of God’ World Cup goal in 1986 would have been ruled out if video technology had existed back then.
Maradona’s goal during the 1986 quarter-final between Argentina and England is still one of the most contentious incidents in football history after he claimed it had been scored by the ‘Hand of God’.
“Obviously I think about it whenever I show my support for the use of technology,” Maradona said in an interview posted on FIFA’s website.
“I thought about it and, sure, that goal wouldn’t have stood if technology had been around. And I’ll tell you something else: at the 1990 World Cup I used my hand to clear the ball off the line against the Soviet Union.
“We were lucky because the referee didn’t see it. You couldn’t use technology back then, but it’s a different story today.”
FIFA wants to use so-called video assistant referees at the 2018 World Cup and football’s law-making body the International FA Board is expected to rule next March whether to allow them to become part of the game on a permanent basis.
Maradona cited Frank Lampard’s disallowed goal for England against Germany at the 2010 World Cup and Geoff Hurst’s goal that won England the trophy in 1966 as other instances where technology could have made a crucial difference.
“It’s not just my goal in ’86 that wouldn’t have counted. Let’s not forget that England won the World Cup in ’66 with a shot that didn’t go over the line. Then it happened to them in 2010, when (Frank) Lampard’s shot crossed the line against Germany but wasn’t given.”
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