Maradona hospitalized in Buenos Aires

The Argentine football legend Diego Maradona was taken by ambulance to a Buenos Aires clinic after suffering an unspecified "imbalance" in his health, the clinic said in a statement.

Photo: Maradona hospitalized in Buenos Aires

Maradona, 47, arrived at the Guemes health clinic in the Argentine capital in an ambulance yesterday and was followed a few minutes later by his two daughters, Dalma and Giannina, footage broadcast by local television stations showed.

The former soccer great "has entered the sanatorium for medical studies following an imbalance he suffered today," the clinic said in a statement.

The clinic provided no further details, but said the "imbalance" Maradona suffered "was not related to an addiction to dangerous drugs."

Over the weekend, Argentine newspapers reported that Maradona had put on weight and was planning to take a "vacation" in Switzerland to help shed the extra pounds.

Maradona led Argentina to the 1986 World Cup championship and went on to become one of soccer's greatest players.

He later battled cocaine addiction and obesity.

In 2001, he was named by FIFA as one of the greatest players in soccer history, alongside Brazil's Pele.

In 2005, Maradona underwent a gastric bypass surgery in Colombia and soon after sported a thinner look.

Maradona's doctor, Alfredo Cahe, told sports daily Ole in its edition last Sunday that he was worried about the former soccer star's weight, comments that generated alarm in Argentina.

But late yesterday, Cahe had no comment as he was spotted by reporters leaving by a back exit of the clinic, the AP reports.

In 2000, Maradona was hospitalized with a severe heart problem while vacationing in Uruguay and tested positive for cocaine before undergoing drug rehabilitation in Cuba.

Four years later, he spent 10 days in intensive care with heart and breathing problems and reentered rehabilitation.

He underwent a stomach-stapling operation in 2005, shedding around 30 kgs and said he was fully recovered and went on to briefly host his own television program.

Since then, he has played in several promotional soccer games with other retired players from across Latin America.

Maradona was suspended for drugs while playing in Italy in 1991 and kicked out of the 1994 World Cup in the United States after failing a drug test, which he blamed on his coaching team for buying the wrong over-the-counter medicine, Reuters reports.

Source: agencies

Prepared by Alexander Timoshik
Pravda.ru