Argentine soccer great Diego Maradona was on Monday admitted to a hospital with signs of depression, three days after his 60th birthday.
A Maradona staffer told reporters that Maradona’s health condition is “not serious.”
He requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about the issue.
Photo: Reuters
“He has been very sad for a week, didn’t want to eat,” the staffer said, adding that Maradona’s personal doctor Leopoldo Luque took the former soccer player to a hospital so he could undergo health checks.
“It’s not a serious situation and we didn’t come for an emergency,” Luque told reporters outside the private clinic in La Plata, south of Buenos Aires.
Although he gave no details of Maradona’s condition, Luque said his patient would undergo a series of medical checkups.
“He’s an elderly patient with many pressures in his life. It’s a time when we must help him. It’s very difficult to be Maradona,” Luque said of the star, who celebrated his 60th birthday on Friday.
The doctor ruled out any link to the COVID-19 pandemic, which is ravaging the South American country, much of it still under confinement.
Maradona, who has a history of drug and alcohol abuse and poor health, is considered at high risk of coronavirus complications should he be infected.
He has had two heart attacks in the past and contracted hepatitis.
“Diego is fine, but he can be much better. I didn’t find him the way I wanted to see him. I had a previous talk with him, I told him: ‘Let’s go to a clinic to improve a little,’ and he said: ‘Well, let’s go,’” Luque said.
“He did not have energy, the birthday was a factor that complicates it in some aspect,” Luque said. “My idea is to have him hydrated for three days, see the evolution and adjust the medication. There is no emergency at all.”
The former Argentina captain, who led his team to triumph in the 1986 World Cup, is currently coach of Argentine club Gimnasia y Esgrima.
Maradona turned 60 on Friday and showed up that night for Gimnasia’s national championship match against Patronato, which his team won 3-0. He left before the end of the first half, which raised questions about his health.
“It breaks my heart to see him like this,” one of his daughters, Giannina, tweeted the next day.
“I didn’t go to see him that day, but the day before he was very well,” his doctor told reporters outside the clinic in La Plata, where Gimnasia are based.
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