Diego Maradona was known just as much for “his magical left foot” as he was his “big mouth”, according to a U.S. newspaper in 1989.
The controversial no.10 propelled Argentina to a World Cup victory in 1986, cementing his place among the pantheon of footballing greats. And he was never one to shy away from the headlines, both with his actions on and off the field.
But the aforementioned description came as a result of what he had said, rather than done, ahead of the 1990 World Cup in Italy. Then 29 and dominating the Serie A with Napoli, the diminutive Argentine sparked outrage among FIFA chiefs when he boldly claimed the draw for the competition had been rigged.
The draw, held in Rome on December 9, 1989, immediately received backlash for the favourable group Italy received. Hollywood actress Sophia Loren was tasked with reaching into the bowl to determine the home nation’s opponents, which turned out to be an easy group containing Austria, the United States and Czechoslovakia.
Loren happened to be wearing a suspiciously large ring, which gave way to Italy’s rivals claiming it was magnetised to attract certain balls and grant them an easy path in the 24-team tournament. And things escalated further when Maradona came out and told reporters in Cagliari that the draw had been “predetermined”.
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Maradona complained about the difficulty of Argentina’s group in comparison to Italy’s, with the South Americans drawn to play the Soviet Union, Romania and Cameroon. His words, coming from the greatest player of the time, unsurprisingly caused an international storm.
It sparked disciplinary action from the Italian FA, who threatened him with a ban and a fine for what FIFA secretary Joseph Blatter called “malicious accusations”.
Still, his comments were backed by Italian outlet Corriere della Sera, who wrote: “It has been long known that World Cup draws are skilfully predetermined, but nobody ever protested… Now that Maradona said it openly, it’s too easy to attack him.”
Maradona later stuck to his words after a friendly between Italy and Argentina in 1989, saying: “If I must apologise for my remarks, I will apologise. But I am not going to recant anything. I said what many others had written and said previously.”
He went on to overcome the controversy by narrowly leading Argentina out of their group. They finished just third after an opening 1-0 defeat to Cameroon, a 2-0 win over the Soviets and a 1-1 draw against Romania.
Maradona was finally able to sprinkle his trademark in the knockout stages and took the three-time champions all the way to the final, where they lost 1-0 to Lothar Matthaus’ West Germany.
George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism