Maradona leaves Argentina for drug rehab in Cuba
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-09-21 10:30

Dissolute soccer great Diego Maradona left his native Argentina on Monday to keep battling cocaine addiction in a state-run mental clinic in Cuba.

 At midday, Maradona boarded a plane that will travel via Panama to Cuba, where he is expected to give a press conference upon arrival. He was accompanied by his personal doctor Alfredo Cahe and his lawyer, among others.

 "Goodbye to all Argentines. I haven't stopped loving my country or my people, especially Maradona fans," a smiling Maradona told Channel 9 television.

 The 43-year-old former Argentina captain will be confined to Cuba's Centre for Mental Health (CENSAM) -- although he said recently he expects to be there just one month.

 "I think I'll be back in La Pradera in a month," Maradona said on Friday during a sensational television interview filmed aboard a helicopter, which the journalist piloted.

 For almost four years, Maradona lived at Havana's La Pradera health farm, where he partied with friends while playing golf almost daily. At CENSAM's enclosed compound, he is expected to undergo stricter treatment.

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

 Once a judge ruled last week that Maradona could leave Argentina, 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, one of the most gifted players in the history of football who led Argentina to victory at the 1986 World Cup, says he has been fighting drug addiction for much of the last 20 years.

 He said he will travel to Argentina again soon for a hotel inauguration party.

 "I'll be returning in a month and a half to Argentina ... the people at the clinic will allow that," Maradona said during Friday's helicopter ride. 

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