/ 18 April 2007

Doctors ponder home treatment for Maradona

Diego Maradona has recovered enough from a relapse of hepatitis to possibly allow him to continue his treatment for alcohol abuse at home, doctors for the football great said on Tuesday.

”Mr Diego Maradona continues to improve after his stay in the clinic, with laboratory work showing clear improvement,” said a statement released by the private Los Arcos clinic a day after it issued a note warning of abnormalities in his liver functions.

”If he continues to improve, the patient will be in shape to check out and to continue his treatment with his personal physician,” said the statement.

Maradona (46) was rushed to Los Arcos in Buenos Aires on Friday complaining of severe abdominal pain, just two days after being discharged from a different clinic after nearly two weeks’ treatment for excessive drinking.

Alfredo Cahe, Maradona’s personal physician, said on Monday that Maradona was not doing well, but was not in a serious condition.

The former captain of Argentina’s winning World Cup football team and one of the sport’s all-time greats has spent 18 days in hospital.

The ex-star player for Barcelona and Naples has seen his career on and off the football pitch marred by repeated drug and alcohol abuse.

Maradona has suffered from hepatitis B since 1991, when he played for Barcelona.

He was hospitalised in 2000 and 2004 for heart attacks provoked by cocaine overdoses. — Sapa-AFP