Maradona responds to report of racist gesture

Moscow: Diego Maradona has given his version of an exchange with an Asian fan at a World Cup game in Moscow that witnesses perceived as racist. British television staff working in Spartak Stadium during Argentina’s 1-1 draw with Iceland yesterday reported seeing Maradona respond to South Korea fans calling his name. Maradona “obliged with a smile, kiss and wave. Then pulled his eyes to the side in a clearly racist gesture,” broadcaster Jacqui Oatley posted on Twitter. A second British broadcaster wrote she also saw the incident.

The Argentina great is an official FIFA ambassador and attended the game in a VIP section as part of a group of former players branded as “FIFA Legends.” On Maradona’s Facebook account, a message was posted today in Spanish, English and Italian, seeking to explain the incident, which seemed to break FIFA anti-discrimination rules. “I understand better than anyone that in the World Cup, people are looking for news everywhere,” Maradona wrote, adding that he saw “an Asian boy wearing an Argentina T-shirt.” “I, from afar, tried to tell them how nice it seemed to me that even the Asians cheer for us. And that’s all, guys, come on.”

Maradona also apologised on Facebook for smoking a cigar yesterday, despite a FIFA ban. “Everyone has their way of feeling things,” he wrote, citing tension at the game. “I honestly did not know that no one can smoke in the stadiums.” — AP