Diego Maradona’s 1986 world cup ‘hand of God’ jersey is to be made available to the public, for just $2million. The jersey was the one he wore during the 1986 world cup game against England, where he scored his famous and most controversial goal. England lost the game, and were knocked out of the world cup in Mexico, and Argentina went ahead to win that tournament.
Reuters reports that the Diego Maradona’s 1986 world cup will be made available by an American sports memorabilia expert who are looking be announce an auction for the jersey.
The Diego Maradona’s 1986 world cup shirt is owned by former England player Steve Hodge, who got it from Maradona after the match in which his attempted back pass led to the controversial goal that helped dump England out of the tournament.
“I was walking down the tunnel and Maradona was coming in the opposite direction. I just tugged my shirt and we swapped there and then,” Hodge, who had been delayed on leaving the pitch doing a TV interview, told British media, Reuters reports.
The shirt is currently on display at England’s National Football Museum in Manchester.
“It’s very difficult to gauge (the value) with the “Hand Of God” jersey, but I know that the owner was looking for a $2 million private sale,” David Amerman of Goldin Auction in New Jersey told Reuters. “It certainly could be a possibility, the values have jumped quite a bit in soccer.”
“It’s very difficult to see how it would get to the two million dollar price, but I don’t see why an individual who had the money wouldn’t want something like that – you can’t really put a number on it. If you find the right person in the right place, it’s a realistic possibility,” Amerman explained.
“Maradona’s rookie soccer card, we recently sold a copy for $10,000. This is a card that was worth maybe a few hundred dollars just a few years ago, and that was before his death. I saw one yesterday online that they were asking $20,000 for.”
But Amerman sounded a note of caution for those thinking of getting involved in the Maradona memorabilia market following the Argentine’s death aged 60 after a heart attack.
“Right now we’re definitely seeing increased action – I’ve already got inquiries from people who have purchased Maradona items on our site looking to sell them back in our next auction.
“We saw with the passing of Kobe Bryant this year, an immediate huge spike in his memorabilia and then it levels out because the market gets saturated.”
Diego Maradona died on Wednesday from a heart attack and was laid to rest on Thursday. Thousands of mourners paid their respects around the world with touching tributes. There was also the report of clashes with fans and the Police on Thursday in his native country, where violence erupted as thousands of mourners tried to force their way into the presidential palace where Maradona is lying in state.