One of the daughters of the late Argentine star Diego Maradona has raised doubts about the shirt that will be auctioned by Sotheby’s on April 20, noting that it is not the shirt in which he scored his two famous goals against England, but rather the one he wore during the first half of that match.
Dalma Maradona revealed to Argentine newspapers, “It is not the shirt, and I cannot reveal who is currently in possession of it, but what is happening is madness. It’s not the shirt this guy has (England’s Steve Hodge in that match).”
She added that her father, Diego, told her, “How can I give him the shirt of my life?” Referring to the shirt in which he scored Argentina’s two goals during their 2-1 victory over England in the quarter-finals of the World Cup in Mexico City, on his way to winning the title, knowing that the second goal was chosen as the goal of the century after a referendum conducted by the International Federation of the game.
A Sotheby’s spokesperson responded to Maradona’s daughter’s allegations in a statement to AFP: “In fact, there is another shirt that Maradona wore in the second half, but there are clear differences between the first half shirt and the shirt he wore when he scored the two goals.
Therefore, before we put the shirt up for auction, we did scientific studies to make sure that this is the shirt that Maradona wore in the second half when he scored the two goals.”
Steve Hodge had claimed for 35 years that he exchanged shirts with Maradona at the end of the match and put it at the disposal of the National Football Museum in England for 18 years. The shirt is set to sell for millions of dollars.
“This player thinks he owns my father’s shirt in the second half, but there is confusion, it is indeed the shirt he wore in the first half,” Dalma added on the network “Canal 13” on Wednesday evening. We want to clarify things so that the people who want to buy it are aware of that.”
She concluded, “As for the real shirt, it is not in my mother’s possession, and I do not want to reveal the identity of the person who owns it. All we want to say is that this shirt is not for sale.”