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In the latest development, Diego Maradona's 1986 World cup-match shirt was sold for 7.1 million Euros at Sotheby's. It came into the history books for being the most expensive sports memorabilia sold at any auction.
Maradona scored a famous hand goal against England in the quarterfinals of the 1986 World Cup, which came to be known as the 'Hand of God' goal. The Argentina team secured a 2-1 victory over the English team. They ultimately won the World cup as well by beating West Germany.
After the quarterfinals, the late footballer had swapped shirts with one of the players in the opponent team, Steve Hodge. However, it spent the last 20 years at the National Football Museum in Manchester.
The auction for the shirt came under the auction radar on April 20 when a single bid of £4m took place, until today when another bidder raised the paddle at 15:51 pm for putting an offer of £4.2m. Then the price kept increasing with more and more bids by the interested parties, and finally, the shirt was sold at £7,142,500 at 4 pm. The buyer has informed the organization that his identity should remain anonymous.
Brahm Wachter, Sotheby’s head of streetwear and modern collectables reckoned that this shirt is a reminder of an important moment in the history of sports.
"This historic shirt is a tangible reminder of an important moment not only in the history of sports but in the history of the 20th century. In the weeks since we announced the auction, we have been inundated by sports fans and collectors alike, with palpable excitement in the air for the duration of the public exhibition – and this unfiltered enthusiasm was echoed in the bidding,” Brahm Wachter said.
"This is arguably the most coveted football shirt to ever come to auction, and so it is fitting that it now holds the auction record for any object of its kind,” Wachter added.
The previous record bid came at a cost of 8.8 million US dollars in December 2019 at Sotheby’s, which was the original autographed manuscript of the Olympic Manifesto.