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Iconic ‘Hand of God’ shirt makes history
ASIF BURHAN tells the story behind one of the most famous moments and shirts in football history, as Maradona’s one-of-a-kind piece is auctioned off at Sotheby’s
Piece of history: Maradona’s shirt on display at Sotheby’s auction house

A SHIRT worn by the late Diego Maradona during the infamous 1986 World Cup quarter-final between Argentina and England was sold today at Sotheby’s for £7,142,500 — making it the world’s most valuable item of sports clothing in history.

Previously, the record price was for a New York Yankees jersey worn by Babe Ruth between 1928 and 1930 which was auctioned off for $5.64 million (£4.52m) in June 2019.

Following a two-week online auction, the 36-year-old blue Le Coq Sportif jersey, owned by former Nottingham Forest, Spurs and Leeds United midfielder Steve Hodge who swapped shirts with Maradona in the Estadio Azteca tunnel immediately after the game, has now surpassed that figure, selling for $9.3m.

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