Maradona: England win a ‘monumental theft’
in Moscow
Diego Maradona has branded England’s win over Colombia “a monumental theft”, accusing them of diving and demanding an apology from Fifa for appointing American Mark Geiger to referee the match.
In a scathing attack on Argentine TV, Maradona claimed Harry Kane “threw himself down” for the penalty that gave England the lead, insisting the striker was not fouled.
He blamed Pierluigi Collina, the chairman of Fifa’s referees committee, for Colombia’s defeat following the decision to put Geiger in charge.
Maradona attended the match as a “Fifa legend”, even though his role as an ambassador is under scrutiny over his antics during Argentina’s games at the tournament.
He told TELESUR: “I saw a monumental theft. I apologise to all the Colombian people. 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. Pierluigi Collina, as the man who designates the referees, he is very bad. He must apologise to the Colombian people. I told [Fifa president] Gianni Infantino that, if I worked for Fifa, I would change everything.
“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.
“Twice, the English threw themselves to the ground and he did not admonish them. This was theft.”
Fifa last night said it “strongly rebukes” Maradona’s claims which it felt were “entirely inappropriate and completely unfounded.”