Codesal: “Maradona was swearing profusely during the national anthem”

Diego Maradona could have been shown a red card before the 1990 World Cup final after swearing 'profusely' during the national anthems – according to the referee in charge, who he later called a 'thief'. Maradona and Argentina managed to reach the final against West Germany at that edition of the tournament but went on to lose the clash 1-0, having two men sent off in the process. Pedro Monzon and Gustavo Dezotti were both dismissed by referee Edgardo Codesal. And Codesal has now suggested Maradona might have been lucky himself that he was in charge, as another official would have had enough reason to send him off. 

“I could have sent him off before the game started as he was swearing profusely during the national anthem”, Codesal told Uruguayan outlet Tirando Paredes when he was asked about dealing with Maradona. “Later when I decided to send off Monzon, Maradona approached me and claimed I was a thief and on the FIFA payroll. I saw Maradona do some remarkable things on the pitch and also saw that his knee had ballooned from aggressive tackling. As a player he was the best but as a person he was an unpleasant person and one of the worst I've gotten to know in my life.” 

Maradona was quoted at the time as suggesting Codesal did not want Argentina to win the game, having seen West Germany win the game through a controversial 85th-minute penalty. “Our players ran hard, but then came this man who ruined everything for us,' Maradona said in 1990. This man was scared that we would get to penalties. He wanted to make the Italian people happy. The black hand of this man expelled Monzon for a normal action, and later he called a penalty against us from his imagination. I have been crying for a long time. Football has been my life and I wasn't crying because we got second place, but because of the way we lost. This man didn't have any right to call that penalty.” (Source: Daily Mail)

Codesal wrote on Twitter that following the interview he had received negative messages, but didn't back down from his classification of Maradona. "Following the wave of comments, insults [going back 30 years] and yearnings that my children and my grandchildren die of COVID[-19] to see me suffer because I said Maradona is despicable, see the definition: not worthy of appreciation and esteem", wrote Codesal. "For me he is not [worthy of appreciation]. I said he was a brilliant player, but as a person he's despicable." Maradona has never forgotten the match, regularly mentioning Codesal, including in 2018 in Queretaro as manager of Mexican side Dorados de Sinaloa. When he was told that the former referee lives in Queretaro, the Argentine replied: "This is the land of thieves?" (Source: ESPN)