Maradona 'may have taken overdose'

Buenos Aires - Argentinean football legend Diego Maradona remained in a Buenos Aires sanatorium on Monday recovering from a serious heart problem as speculation continued over his exact health condition after a suspected cocaine overdose.

Maradona arrived in Argentina late on Sunday after a half-hour flight from a clinic in Punta del Este, Uruguay, to where he was rushed last Tuesday with heart problems and later tested positive for traces of cocaine in blood and urine.

The exact health condition of the 1986 world champion is not known, but Argentinean and Uruguayan media have quoted doctors' diagnoses of the state of the football great.

Frank Torres, the doctor who has handled Maradona since his arrival in Buenos Aires, diagnosed him having a "serious heart disease".

Another doctor, Eduardo Kalina, told Argentinean television that Maradona tried to commit suicide.

"He is in danger of committing suicide and must urgently be forced into a drug abuse cure," Kalina said.

The El Observador newspaper in Uruguay cited witnesses who said a young doctor named Jorge Romero saved Maradona's life last Tuesday at a hotel before he was rushed to hospital.

"Maradona was in danger for some time," said his house doctor Alfredo Cahe. "His heart is weak."

Maradona's manager and close friend Guillermo Coppola also said the 39-year-old Maradona needed treatment.

"It is really time we both grow up. Maradona needs to be treated," Coppola said at the Punta clinic.

Uruguayan justice officials meanwhile ordered Coppola and another close friend of Maradona, businessman Pablo Cosentino, to remain in Uruguay. Authorities are still trying to determine how Maradona obtained the cocaine, which is believed to have caused his heart problems.

Before leaving Uruguay, a bed-ridden Maradona appeared before a judge and denied taking cocaine shortly before being rushed to hospital.

The "golden boy" does not face any charges since consuming cocaine is not punishable in Uruguay. But those who gave him the cocaine could face drug trafficking charges, which carry a prison sentence of up to 20 years.

Cuban President Fidel Castro, who is a personal friend of the Argentine, reportedly told Maradona's wife Claudia Villafane that the "golden boy" should take his drug treatment cure on the Caribbean island. - Sapa-DP