ARGENTINA: SOCCER/FOOTBALL - Doctor says Maradona will be moved to a psychiatric ward to treat alcohol addiction

Diego Maradona, who is in the hospital being treated for alcoholic hepatitis, will be moved next week to a psychiatric clinic for alcohol abuse treatment, his doctor said on Thursday (April 19). The 46-year-old soccer great who led Argentina to the 1986 World Cup championship has been in the hospital for most of the last three weeks with ailments linked to excessive drinking. Maradona was taken to a Buenos Aires clinic on April 13 complaining of abdominal pain, just 48 hours after being released from 10 days of treatment. Dr. Alfredo Cahe, Maradona's personal physician, told Radio Uno that doctors had persuaded the former Argentine captain to submit to rehabilitation at a psychiatric centre. Maradona, chosen by soccer's governing body, FIFA, along with Pele as the best players of the 20th century, has struggled with obesity and cocaine addiction since he retired in 1997. Doctors treating Maradona say his current problems were not brought on by drug use but his "addictive personality." Maradona was hospitalized in 2000 and 2004, both times with severe heart problems stemming from his cocaine use. He underwent drug rehabilitation at a Argentine psychiatric centre three years ago before continuing his treatment in Cuba. In 2005 he had a stomach stapling operation to fight obesity. The charismatic Maradona slimmed down after the operation and seemed to initiating a new phase in his life, hosting a television show and resuming his role as a visible public figure. Video footage from 2006 showed a trim, well-groomed and energetic Maradona cheering rabidly for the Argentine tennis players in last year's Davis Cup, but Maradona's quickly swelled again and he has been visibly inebriated and unkempt in recent public appearances.

ITN Source | April 21, 2007

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