Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ shirt nets £7.1m at auction
DIEGO MARADONA’S “Hand of God” shirt has sold for a record £7.1million after Sotheby’s rejected claims from the late footballer’s daughter about its authenticity.
The sale price shattered both the £3million estimate and the £4million reserve in frenzied bidding that saw the cost almost double in the final nine minutes.
An Argentine delegation consisting of Maradona’s family, a memorabilia firm and the country’s football association travelled to London hoping to buy the shirt themselves, amid anger it was being sold without their consent. It was not known last night whether they were the successful bidders.
The previous record for any sports memorabilia was the original autographed manuscript of the Olympic Manifesto from 1892, which sold at Sotheby’s for $8.8 million (£7million) in December 2019. The record for a gameworn shirt had been held by a New York Yankees jersey worn by Babe Ruth, which sold for $5.64million (£4.49million) the same year.
According to Guinness World Records, Pele’s Brazil shirt from the 1970 World Cup final had been the most expensive football shirt sold at auction. It fetched £157,750 in 2002.
Maradona’s number 10 shirt, worn when he scored twice in his Argentina’s 1986 World Cup quarter-final win over England, had only attracted one bid until 3.51pm yesterday.
The announcement of the auction had prompted Maradona’s eldest daughter, Dalma, to claim the shirt was actually the top her father wore during the goalless first half of the match in Mexico City. She added that the prized “secondhalf” jersey was in the hands of a mystery owner, whom she declined to name.
Dalma, one of Maradona’s two daughters with his ex-wife Claudia Villafañe, made the claims on her Argentine radio show, and said her father had changed shirts at half-time because of the high temperatures in the stadium.
Sotheby’s rejected the claims, however, adding that it had hired an expert outside company to photomatch the shirt being auctioned, which had found “multiple conclusive matches” to the one that Maradona was wearing when he scored his two second-half goals.