Ali Ben Nasser (also spelled Ali Bennaceur, ar, علي بن ناصر; born 2 March 1944) is a

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

n former football referee.

1986 FIFA World Cup

Argentina-England refereeing dispute

Nasser refereed the match between

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in the

1986 FIFA World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-team format. Colombia ha ...

, where the " Hand of God" and the "Goal of the Century" were scored by Argentine captain

Diego Maradona Diego Armando Maradona (; 30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two joint winners of the FI ...

to win the match. For the "Hand of God" goal, Maradona punched the ball into the net, however, Ben Nasser stated that he did not see this and thought that Maradona had headed the ball. Both Ben Nasser and his Bulgarian assistant linesman

Bogdan Dochev Bogdan Ganev Dochev (; 26 June 1935 – 29 May 2017) was a Bulgarian footballer and football referee. He is known for having refereed two matches in the FIFA World Cup, Italy - Cameroon 1-1 in 1982 and Paraguay - Belgium 2-2 in 1986. Dochev ...

blamed each other for the handball being missed. Ben Nasser said he waited for a signal from Dochev of a handball, but since none came, he awarded the goal. TV footage backs this up, as it shows Ben Nasser looking at him after the goal expectantly. Dochev, however, blamed Ben Nasser, saying that at the time assistant referees were not allowed by FIFA to discuss decisions with referees: whatever the referee decided was final. He suggested Ben Nasser's inexperience at the highest levels of football in World Cup was to blame.

Further appearances

At the 1986 FIFA World Cup finals, he was also the first official in the group match between

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

and

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

as well as an assistant in three further matches at the tournament, including the round of 16 fixture between

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

and

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. He never officiated a FIFA World Cup match again after the 1986 tournament.

Later life

On 17 August 2015, Maradona visited Ben Nasser at his home in Tunisia and paid tribute to him, offering him an Argentine jersey bearing his signature and called him "eternal friend."

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ben Nasser, Ali 1944 births Living people Tunisian football referees 1986 FIFA World Cup referees