Highlights
- The ball is expected to fetch between USD 2.7 million and USD 3.3 million.
- The ball auction comes amid a boom for sports memorabilia.
Ali Bin Nasser, the referee during the infamous 'Hand of God' goal by Diego Maradona against England at the 1986 World Cup is auctioning the ball used during the game for as high as USD 3 million.
The ball has been put up for auction by the Tunisian referee who was in charge of the game and missed soccer's most famous handball. Graham Budd Auctions said Thursday they expect the 36-year-old Adidas ball owned by ex-referee Ali Bin Nasser to fetch between USD 2.7 million and USD 3.3 million when it goes up for sale in Britain on Nov. 16, four days before the World Cup in Qatar kicks off.
The ball auction comes amid a boom for sports memorabilia. The shirt worn by Argentina great Maradona in that game against England at the World Cup in Mexico was sold in May for USD 9.3 million, at the time the highest price paid at auction for a piece of sports memorabilia.
That was beaten by a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle baseball card, which went for USD 12.6 million in New York in August. A Michael Jordan Chicago Bulls jersey from Game 1 of the 1998 NBA Finals — the season featured on the ESPN and Netflix documentary "The Last Dance" — fetched USD 10.1 million last month, double what auctioneers expected, to eclipse.
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Maradona's shirt for the record for game-worn memorabilia. "2022 has been an amazing year in the sports memorabilia market with records broken on three occasions," auction house chairman Graham Budd said. "It's an exciting time in the market and we're wondering whether this famous football will break records as well."
The Maradona goal that gave Argentina a 1-0 lead in the quarterfinal against England — but should never have been allowed — has become part of
soccer legend. Maradona jumped as if to head the ball but instead punched it past goalkeeper Peter Shilton. England players protested Bin Nasser but the goal stood. Maradona quipped afterwards that it was scored "a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God," leading to its iconic name.
Maradona used the same ball, the only one used in the quarterfinal, for his brilliant second goal four minutes later. He ran 68 metres from his half and weaved his way past half of the England team before slipping the ball past Shilton to make it 2-0. That goal was voted the World Cup Goal of the Century in 2002.
Argentina won the game 2-1 and went on to lift the World Cup, and the tournament launched Maradona as one of the game's greatest players. He died in 2020 at the age of 60. "This ball is part of international football history," Bin Nasser said in a statement. "It feels like the right time to be sharing it with the world."
Bin Nasser will also auction the referee shirt he wore for the quarterfinal, the auction house said, and another shirt that Maradona signed for his “eternal friend” at a reunion years after the game. The seller of the Mantle card was rewarded for a shrewd piece of business after buying it for USD 50,000 in 1991 and keeping it in mint condition.
Who would have thought back in 1986, that this grave mistake, a historic incident would someday make Bin Nasser a millionaire?
Talk about destiny.
(Inputs PTI)
