THE years of drug abuse have left Diego Maradona a bloated parody of the man who became the most feared striker in international football, leading Argentina to victory in the 1986 World Cup finals.

His attempt to get over injuries, to which he was particularly prone, by using painkilling injections was a precursor to a frightening descent into more serious drug abuse. His huge wealth, garnered when playing for Napoli in Italy, gave him the means to buy recreational drugs. Rumours swirled round Italy for several years that he was taking illicit substances at private parties and this was proved in 1991, when he tested positive for cocaine.

He was banned by Fifa for 15 months “from all football activities” and when he returned to the game was clearly overweight and failed to train consistently.

Maradona began to take pills in a desperate attempt to reduce weight and played for Argentina in the 1994 World Cup finals. However, as he was about to make a record 22nd appearance in the tournament it was announced that a urine sample taken after the game against Nigeria had tested positive for several drugs.

Dr Michel d’Hooghe, the Fifa medical representative, said: “Maradona must have taken a cocktail of drugs. The five identified substances are not found in one medicine.” Among the drugs was the stimulant, Ephedrine.

He was sent home and banned by Fifa for a further 15 months, ending his top-class career. In 1996, he booked himself into a clinic in Switzerland to combat his cocaine addiction and was told that he could die at any moment.

The next year, when he returned to Boca Juniors, any chance of a comeback was ruined when he again failed a drugs test. In 2000, he was admitted to a hospital in Uruguay with a heart condition and, for the past two years, he has been struggling to conquer recreational drugs abuse in a clinic in Cuba.

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