FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
The British historical weekly "Observer" has published an investigation that brings back to mind one of the greatest mysteries of English football: was Gordon Banks' illness at the 1970 World Cup in Mexico the result of deliberate poisoning?
Sports writer and journalist Gabriel Gatehouse, author of the investigation, raises suspicions that the legendary England goalkeeper may have been the target of an operation linked to the American CIA during the World Cup.
According to a summary published by La Repubblica , it all started on the night of June 11, 1970, at the Hilton Hotel in Guadalajara, where Gordon Banks shared a room with Bobby Charlton and Keith Newton. After England's victory over Czechoslovakia, the players celebrated with a drink in their room.
Just two days later, on the eve of the quarter-final against West Germany, Banks fell seriously ill and was unable to play in the match which England lost 3-2.
" I don't remember if the bottle was opened in front of me, but I know that half an hour after I drank it I felt terribly sick ," Banks wrote in his autobiography.
At the time, England were the reigning world champions after their 1966 triumph and were considered one of the main favorites along with Brazil. However, the atmosphere around the team had been tense even before the tournament began, when captain Bobby Moore was arrested in Colombia on suspicion of stealing a bracelet, an item that was never recovered. Moore always insisted he was innocent.
The Observer investigation suggests that these episodes may have been part of a wider political operation during the Cold War. The article also mentions British documents found in the state archives at Kew, which speak of a "Latin American CIA plot against England".
Another element that fuels the theory is a statement that US Senator Stuart Symington is said to have made to Gordon Banks years later:
" It was the CIA! They wouldn't let England beat Brazil, would they ?"
According to the investigation, in 1964 the US supported the establishment of a military dictatorship in Brazil and the triumph of the Brazilian national team in the 1970 World Cup was considered of great political and propaganda importance. Gatehouse claims to have also found a classified CIA document, dated February 2, 1971, which shows that the agency was aware of the political impact of the World Cup.
The suspicions have also been heightened by the testimony of the Banks family. Robert and Wendy Banks, the former goalkeeper's children, told the Observer that after returning from Mexico, the family was quarantined for two weeks at their home near Stoke-on-Trent.
" There were people moving around the house in white T-shirts, taking monsters from all of us ," they said.
However, to this day there is no conclusive evidence that Gordon Banks was deliberately poisoned. The theory remains part of an open debate between football history, Cold War politics and the mysteries that continue to surround the 1970 World Cup.
Une di qe ne boterorin e 70-tes Anglia u eleminua nga Brazili me rezultatin 1 me 0, me gol te Jairsinios dhe jo nga Gjermania.