World Cup referee hails Maradona as a ‘genius’

Tunis – Tunisian former referee Ali Bin Nasser, who officiated the 1986 World Cup quarterfinal in which Diego Maradona scored his famous double against England, hailed the Argentinian as a “genius” following his death, aged 60, yesterday.

Bin Nasser admitted that he doubted the validity of Maradona’s infamous “Hand of God” goal, but said the football legend’s second strike in the game was a “masterpiece”.

In the 51st minute of a politically-charged last-eight clash in Mexico, four years after the

Falklands War,

Maradona out-jumped England goalkeeper Peter Shilton and punched the ball into the net to give his country the lead.

“I didn’t see the hand, but I had a doubt,” Bin Nasser, the first Tunisian to referee a World Cup quarterfinal, said.

“You can see the pictures – I stepped back to take the advice of my assistant, Bulgarian (Bogdan) Dochev, and when he said it was good, I gave the goal.”

The 76-year-old said he believed he was a go-to man for Fifa in tough matches, and that world football’s governing body gave him a high rating for his performance in the game.

“I had already refereed a match between the USSR and China in 1985, I was the man of difficult missions for Fifa,” Bin Nasser said.

“Fifa gave me a 9.4 on this game, I did what I had to do, but there was confusion – Dochev later indicated that he had seen two arms, and he didn’t know if it was Shilton’s or Maradona’s.”

Argentina secured their place in the semifinals of a tournament they would go on to win when Maradona put them two goals ahead with a strike later voted the “Goal of the Century”.

The then-Napoli star evaded six England players’ attempts to either tackle or foul him during a mesmerising run from the halfway line, before prodding into an empty net.

“I was ready to whistle for a dangerous foul on Maradona,” remembered Bin Nasser of a goal which proved to be the winner after Gary Lineker pulled one back for England.

“I was proud to participate in that masterpiece.” –