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Diego Maradona (Getty Images)
Great Argentine soccer Diego Maradona he was admitted to the hospital on Monday for checkups, his personal physician announced.
“It is not a serious situation and we did not come for an emergency,” Leopoldo Luque told reporters outside the clinic in La Plata, south of Buenos Aires.
Although he did not elaborate on Maradona’s condition, Luque said his patient would undergo a series of medical check-ups.
“He is an elderly patient with many pressures in his life. It is a moment in which we must help him. It is very difficult to be Maradona,” Luque said about the star, who turned 60 on Friday.
The doctor ruled out any link to the coronavirus pandemic, which is ravaging the South American country, much of it still under lockdown.
Maradona, who has a history of drug and alcohol abuse and poor health, is considered to be at high risk for complications from coronavirus if he is infected.
He has had two heart attacks in the past and contracted hepatitis.
“Diego is fine, but he may be much better. I didn’t find him the way I wanted to see him. I already had a previous talk with him, I told him: ‘We’re going to a clinic to improve a little.’ and he said, ‘Okay, let’s go,’ ”Luque said.
The former captain of Argentina, who led his team to victory in the 1986 World Cup, is currently the coach of the Gimnasia club of the Argentine Super League.
Along with Brazilian Pelé, Maradona is widely regarded as the greatest player of all time.
He joined his players briefly at the club’s training ground on his birthday, but had obvious walking difficulties and had to be helped by his assistants after staying only 30 minutes.
“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 fine,” his doctor told reporters outside the clinic in La Plata, where Gimnasia is based.
Maradona went into self-isolation last month after a bodyguard showed symptoms of the virus, though he later tested negative.
