Argentinian Football Association’s (AFA) to suspend relegation from the country’s top-flight football league until 2022 was welcomed by many clubs including Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata, a club coached by football legend Diego Maradona. The club was almost certain to drop into the second division had the season concluded but the scrapping of the season and the decision to restructure the top division meant that not only the club survived a drop this season but is saved from relegation for the next two seasons as well. The move was dubbed as another ‘Hand of God’ moment in Argentinian football. Diego Maradona Hails Move to Suspend Relegation in Argentinian Football.

But Maradona, who had originally dubbed his hand-assisted goal against England in the 1986 World Cup as the ‘Hand of God’ goal, said that he wished for divine intervention to end the coronavirus pandemic. “This happened to us today and many people are calling it a new Hand of God,” Maradona was quoted as saying by Reuters after the AFA voted to suspend relegation for two seasons saving Maradona’s club from dropping to the second division.

“But today I am asking for that hand to do away with the pandemic so people can get back to living their lives, with health and happiness,” he added. The former Argentina coach had earlier disagreed with the association’s decision to suspend relegation for the next two seasons but said they would take the decision as a prize.

"It's not the end that we would have wanted, but it's a good decision," the 1986 World Cup winner told Argentinian newspaper Clarin. "We were convinced that we were going to avoid relegation anyway. But this is a reward for a group that has given everything for this club."

Top-flight football in Argentina has been suspended since March after just the first round of matches amid the coronavirus pandemic, which has already claimed 207 lives in the country and has affected over 4000 people. The damage has been more catastrophic in other parts of the world with two lakh deaths and three million people affected.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 29, 2020 02:18 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).