Could've sent off Maradona during anthems: 1990 WC final referee

London : Edgardo Codesal, the referee in the 1990 FIFA World Cup final between West Germany and Argentina, made striking revelations that he was thinking of sending off legendary footballer Diego Maradona even before the kick-off.

Codesal claimed that Maradona was abusing 'profusely' while the national anthems were going on and he thought about showing him the red card even before the actual start of the blockbuster clash.

"I could have sent him off before the game started as he was swearing profusely during the national anthem," Codesal was quoted as saying by Tirando Paredes.

West Germany edged the final 1-0 that also saw two Argentina players being sent off. Codesal also alleged that Maradona referred to him as a thief while he was showing the red card to Pedro Monzon.

"Later when I decided to send off Monzon, Maradona approached me and claimed I was a thief and on the FIFA payroll.

"I saw Maradona do some remarkable things on the pitch and also saw that his knee had ballooned from aggressive tackling.

"As a footballer he was the best but as a person he was an unpleasant person one of the worst I have gotten to know in my life," he added.

After the crushing defeat in the final, Maradona had alleged that Codesal 'wanted to make Italians happy' and that is why he gave the penalty against Argentina in the 85th minute, which won West Germany the title.

"Our players ran hard, but then came this man who ruined everything for us," Maradona had said after the defeat.

"This man was scared that we would get to penalties. He wanted to make the Italian people happy. The black hand of this man expelled Monzon for a normal action, and later he called a penalty against us from his imagination.

"I have been crying for a long time. Football has been my life and I wasn't crying because we got second place, but because of the way we lost. This man didn't have any right to call that penalty," he added.