Diego Maradona meets referee who allowed 'Hand of God' goal

Argentina football legend Diego Maradona kissed and hugged referee Ali Bennaceur, who allowed his ‘Hand of God’ goal in the 1986 World Cup and presented him with a signed Argentine jersey when the two met in Tunisia this week

TUNIS (Tunisia): Argentina football legend Diego Maradona kissed and hugged referee Ali Bennaceur, who allowed his ‘Hand of God’ goal in the 1986 World Cup and presented him with a signed Argentine jersey when the two met in Tunisia this week.

Diego Maradona during the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. Pic/AFP

Argentina beat England 2-1 in the quarter-finals of the 1986 World Cup in Mexico to then go on and win the championship.

Maradona scored twice in the match with the first strike being controversial. The ball came off a defender when Maradona, now 54, rose to hit it with his hand, over England ’keeper Peter Shilton.

Bennaceur, now 71, ruled it as a goal, which Maradona later called the ‘Hand of God.’

“This weekend I visited Tunisia and had an emotional reunion with Ali Bennaceur. I gave him an Argentina shirt and he gave me the picture of that game,” Maradona wrote on Facebook.

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