Maradona apologizes to FIFA

The Argentine Diego Maradona apologized to the FIFA for his statements against the American referee Mark Geiger who led the meeting of the eighth finals of the World Cup between Colombia and England

During the program " From the Hand of the Ten ", transmitted by the Venezuelan chain TeleSUR, Maradona assured that the performance of the US umpire on Tuesday could not be "raw", while explaining that the referees "choose them Collina (Pierluigi) who chose Infantino (Gianni) to change into a new Fifa and today we have seen the opposite: an old and arranged Fifa. "

According to Maradona the" referee "invented a penalty" which led to the 1-0 of the # 39; England. "This was not criminal, it was the absence of Kane (…) There are no criteria, why did not they ask the VAR (video refereeing)? ", he said.

FIFA described his statements as "inappropriate and unfounded comments" and "strongly criticized" the referees. "

" At the time of ] FIFA is doing everything in its power to ensure that the principles of fair play, of integrity and respect are at the forefront of this World Cup and the organization itself . The statements of a player who wrote the story of our game, "he said in a statement.

In response to the announcement of FIFA, Maradona is excused Thursday via his Instagram account:

"Taken by the emotion of bloating for Colombia the other day, I said a few things and, I admit, some d & # 39; 39 between them are unacceptable. My apologies to FIFA and its President: although I sometimes have opinions contrary to certain arbitration awards, I have absolute respect for the work – not easy – that the institution and the referees, "writes Maradona in his account, next to a photo of him with Infantino

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FIFA disqualified criticism of Maradona, who claimed to be" very clear "that the referee "has invented" a penalty against Colombia