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Diego Maradona admitted to hospital for scheduled surgery

WION Web Team
New Delhi, Delhi, IndiaUpdated: Jan 13, 2019, 07:56 AM IST
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File photo of Diego Maradona. Photograph:(Reuters)

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Late on Saturday, Maradona's lawyer Matias Morla reported that the operation was a success.

Former Argentine football player Diego Maradona was admitted to a clinic in Buenos Aires on Saturday (January 12) for a scheduled surgery. 

The 58-year-old Maradona was diagnosed with a health problem in early January during routine exams performed at the same hospital in the town of Olivos. 

He was preparing to travel to Mexico to take over the technical management of the Dorados de Sinaloa football club. 

"It is bleeding due to a hernia. It is not complicated at all," a source told Reuters on Saturday, adding: "With this, he hopes to solve some of the inconveniences that he usually has."

Late on Saturday, Maradona's lawyer Matias Morla reported that the operation was a success. 

Maradona suffered frequent periods in hospitals over the years, often due to the extravagant lifestyle that helped make him one of the most admired and iconic footballers of the 20th century.

He last fell ill at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, where he was filmed passing out in an executive box at the Argentina-Nigeria game. 

He was taken into hospital in 2004 with severe heart and respiratory problems linked to cocaine use.

Argentine legend later underwent drug rehabilitation in Cuba and Argentina before a stomach-stapling operation in 2005 helped him lose weight. 

In 2007 he checked himself into a clinic in Buenos Aires to help him overcome alcohol abuse problems. 

In recent months he has walked with the aid of crutches due to problems with his knees.