Ali Bin Nasser, a former Tunisian referee, who officiated
England’s controversial loss by Argentina at the 1986 FIFA World Cup
quarter-final, says he is “honoured” to have helped Diego Maradona score the
“goal of the century”.
Maradona died from cardiac arrest on Wednesday at the age of
60.
In that encounter, the Argentine ace footballer scored two goals — the first with an arm in
what is now known as the infamous ‘Hand of God’ and the second wherein he
dribbled past six England players, which was also dubbed ‘goal of the century’.
In an interview with BBC, Bin Nasser said if he had whistled
for foul — while the then-Napoli megastar dribbled past six England players —
the world would not have witnessed that Maradona’s moment of brillance.
“He took off from midfield, and I was shadowing him closely.
When you’re refereeing someone like Maradona, you can’t take your eyes off
them,” said Bin Nasser.
“They tried to take him down on three occasions, but his
desire for victory kept pushing him forward. Every time I would shout
‘advantage’ until he reached the box.
“I was watching from outside the box, wondering how this
player shook off three defenders, and sprinted for nearly 50 metres. I thought
‘the defenders will try to take him down now’. I was expecting that to happen
and was ready to whistle for a penalty.
“To my surprise, he dribbled past another defender and the
goalkeeper [Peter Shilton] to score what would become ‘the goal of the
century’.
“I’m proud and honoured as a person and as a referee for
having played a role in that historical achievement.
“Had I whistled [for] a foul in any of the first three
contacts, we wouldn’t have witnessed something that magnificent. That advantage
I gave is one my proudest achievements.”
 |
Even at 5ft 5in, Maradona managed to rise above Peter Shilton for his ‘Hand of God’ goal/ Credit: PA:Press Association |
The 76-year-old retired referee said the clash was the
highlight of his career despite the “Hand of God” controversial goal.
“I remember it vividly,” he continued.
“The English defender [Steve Hodge] had the ball, sent it
back and Maradona was in the air with Peter Shilton, and they were both facing
away from me.
“They were facing my assistant referee, the Bulgarian Bogdan
Dochev.
“I was hesitant at first, I glanced over to Dochev, who was
headed back to the centre of the pitch, confirming the goal. He didn’t signal
for handball.
“The instructions Fifa gave us before the game were clear –
if a colleague was in a better position than mine, I should respect his view.”
Twenty years later, Maradona, visited Bin Nasser while
shooting an advertisement in Tunisia and gave him a T-shirt bearing the words:
“To my eternal friend Ali”.
“We had a good time, I told him that that day, it was not
Argentina who won, but him, Maradona,” he added.
“He was a genius, a football legend. As a referee, I did not
allow myself to close my eyes even for a second when following him, because he
was capable of anything.”
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