Moscow: Diego Maradona has apologised to Fifa and its referees for saying that England's Round-of-16 win over Colombia in the World Cup was a robbery and that referee Mark Geiger was not up to the task.

Maradona said sorry after being rebuked by soccer's governing body following comments he made after England's hard-fought penalty shootout win in Tuesday's game.

"Overcome by emotion in cheering for Colombia the other day I said a couple of things and I admit, some of them were unacceptable," Maradona wrote on his Instagram account.

"My apologies to Fifa and its president (Gianni Infantino); although I sometimes disagree with some refereeing decisions I have the utmost respect for the work - which isn't easy - that referees do."

England won the match on penalties following 120 minutes marred by squabbling, protests to the referee, play-acting and feigning injury.

Fifa said it was "doing everything within its power to ensure principles of fair play, integrity and respect are at the forefront of this World Cup and how the organisation is now run."

In that context, Fifa said it was "extremely sorry to read such declarations from a player who has written the history of our game."

Maradona had said England's win was a "monumental robbery" and that Geiger "shouldn't be given a match of this magnitude."

"Geiger, an American, what a coincidence." In an interview to a Venezuelan TV channel, Maradona had said: "I apologise to all the Colombian people, but the players are not to blame - here is a gentleman (Fifa referees' boss Pierluigi Collina) who decides to choose a referee who can't be used for a match of this magnitude." Maradona was at the match as a guest of Fifa and was pictured before the game wearing a Colombia shirt.

"Following comments made by Diego Armando Maradona in relation to yesterday's Round-of-16 game, Colombia vs England, Fifa strongly rebukes the criticism of the performance of the match officials which it considers to have been positive in a tough and highly-emotional match," a Fifa statement said on Wednesday.

"Furthermore, it also considers the additional comments and insinuations made as being entirely inappropriate and completely unfounded."

Colombia captain Radamel Falcao also criticised American official Geiger, calling his performance a "disgrace".

Geiger awarded England a second-half penalty after midfielder Carlos Sanchez wrestled Harry Kane to the ground, but also punished an apparent headbutt by Colombia's Wilmar Barrios on Jordan Henderson with only a yellow card.

"It was clear that in the 50-50 calls, he always sided with England and this is a disgrace in the round of 16," said Falcao.

Geiger had been suspended from international football for six months after several controversial decisions during a 2015 Gold Cup semi-final between Panama and Mexico. He also refereed Colombia's 3-0 group-stage win over Greece at the 2014 World Cup.

Former England striker Gary Lineker laughed off Maradona's comments on Twitter, referring to Argentinian's infamous 'Hand of God' goal against England in the 1986 quarter finals. "The sheer effrontery from the fella who punched one in. You've got to hand it to him."

Agencies