Maradona gets Cuban check-up and Castro's support
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-09-22 09:20

Former Argentina captain Diego Maradona was having medical examinations in Cuba on Tuesday and received a message of support from President Fidel Castro for his latest efforts to kick cocaine, Argentina's ambassador said.

 The soccer great was met by Cuban Health Minister Jose Ramon Balaguer and Secretary of the Council of State Jose Miyar Barrueco upon his arrival on Monday night.

 The Cuban officials brought a message from Castro welcoming Maradona and offering his support, Argentina's ambassador, Raul Taleb, told Reuters.

 Maradona is a fan of the Cuban president, a likeness of whom he has tattooed on his leg. The two men first met in 1994.

 "He was in good spirits when he arrived and ready to fight his habit with the support of the right conditions," Taleb said.

 Maradona, who led Argentina to victory at the 1986 World Cup, spent the night at the Cuban Interior Ministry's Center for Mental Health (CENSAM), an enclosed compound of bungalows in a leafy Havana suburb, where he will undergo rehabilitation.

 Maradona was brought to a military hospital for a complete physical on Tuesday.

 "First we have to control his weight and heart problems, then give him psychiatric and psychological support," Taleb said.

 DRUG ADDICTION

 The 43-year-old, one of the most gifted players in the history of soccer, says he has been fighting drug addiction for much of the last 20 years.

 In April a bloated Maradona was rushed into intensive care with heart problems. His family then forced him to enter a psychiatric clinic outside Buenos Aires for drug rehabilitation.

 A judge ruled last week that Maradona could leave Argentina but a minor respiratory illness delayed his departure to Cuba. He says the island offers him respite from the media and fan frenzy in Europe and South America.

 Maradona first had drug treatment in Cuba after suffering a similar life-threatening health crisis while on holiday in Uruguay in 2000.

 For almost four years Maradona lived at Havana's La Pradera health farm, where he partied with friends while playing golf almost daily.

 "Now he cannot come and go as he pleases, his movements will be strictly controlled at the center," said Taleb, adding that treatment usually takes 70 days but varies according to the patient.  

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