Maradona: I saw a monumental robbery in England vs. Colombia
The Argentina legend was furious to see England progress to the last eight
"I saw a monumental robbery on the pitch. The penalty was not a penalty -- it was a foul by Kane," Diego Maradona told Venezuelan TV station Telesur about referee Mark Geiger's decision to give England a penalty against Colombia on Tuesday.
Maradona didn't hold anything back as he spoke about the refereeing in the match, which he watched as a Colombia fan after Argentina's exit to France at the weekend.
"It's a foul by Kane. Geiger is looking at the panoramic and when his head moves back, he sees Kane on the floor. He didn't see what happened," Maradona continued.
"Why didn't he use VAR? I'm reeling because when I spoke to [FIFA president Gianni] Infantino the first time, everything had changed at FIFA: the thieves had left, the fixes, everything.
"And today I saw a monumental robbery on the pitch. I apologise to the Colombian people, but the players are not to blame as we don't choose the referees.
"The referees are chosen by [Pierluigi] Collina, who was appointed by Infantino to change the new FIFA from thieves and fixers, and today we saw the opposite -- an old and fixed FIFA."
Kane won a second-half penalty for England after tangling with Carlos Sanchez at a corner kick, drawing the ire of the Colombian players.
That looked set to be the difference between the two teams until stoppage time at the end of the game, when Barcelona defender Yerry Mina headed him his third goal of the tournament.
However, Colombia's late glee turned to despair as they were beated 4-3 by England on penalties.
Maradona added: "England couldn't find a way in, Colombia played how it could, with what it had, without James [Rodriguez], without a creator.
"I screamed Colombia's goal as though I had been the one to head that ball because it's not possible, you have to denounce this. As the captain of legends, I have to tell Infantino this cannot be left like this.
"This is a fatal mistake for a whole country, who had lots of hopes of their team and feel let down."
Maradona has a history with England himself, scoring with his hand for Argentina against them in 1986 on route to winning the World Cup as a player.
