The shirt worn by Argentine football legend Diego Maradona for the infamous Hand of God football shirt sold at auction in London on Wednesday for £7.1 million (USD 9.3 million), the highest for any item of sports memorabilia going under the hammer. sets a new record.
On 22 June 1986, a 25-year-old Maradona made history in one of the most famous football matches in the world in the Argentina vs England quarter-finals of the FIFA World Cup.
Maradona scored two of the most extraordinary and infamous goals in the game. Argentina won the cup and that day permanently established Maradona’s name in the history of the sport. Now, that shirt has gone under the hammer at Sotheby’s in London.
This historic shirt is a true reminder of a momentous moment not only in the history of the sport, but in the history of the 20th century, said Brahm Wachter, Sotheby’s Head of Streetwear and Modern Collectibles.
Ever since we announced the auction, we’ve been inundated with a fervent enthusiasm in the air for the duration of the public exhibition by sports fans and collectors alike and this unfiltered enthusiasm was echoed in the bidding. It is certainly the most coveted football shirt to ever come up at auction, and so it is fitting that it now holds the auction record for any item of its kind,” he said.
The shirt came from the collection of English midfielder Steve Hodge, who had inadvertently thrown the ball to Maradona during the game, with whom Maradona swapped shirts after the match, as Maradona himself described in his autobiography Touched by God. ‘ I remembered.
Before Wednesday’s sale, the auction record for any sports memorabilia was the original autographed manuscript of the Olympic Manifesto from 1892, which sold at Sotheby’s in December 2019 for USD 8.8 million. The previous record for shirts worn in games was held by Babe Ruth’s Yankees Road. The jersey, which sold for USD 5.64 million in 2019.
The auction house said that distinguishing Sotheby’s shirt from the one worn at the time Maradona scored the infamous goal was done by the sports memorabilia photo-matching firm, Resolution Photomatching, and later reviewed by Sotheby’s chief science officer. who physically checked the shirt. To confirm matching features.
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