Argentine football legend Diego Maradona admitted to hospital

Retired professional footballer Diego Maradona has been admitted to a hospital although his condition is not thought to be serious, according to local media reports coming out of Argentina on Monday.

Maradona, regarded as one of the greatest football players of all time, coaches the local club Gimnasia y Esgrima. He was reportedly taken to the Ipensa clinic in La Plata, about an hour from Buenos Aires.

The ex-footballer is currently 60 years old and the reports said the World Cup winner with Argentina in 1986 was admitted to hospital to undergo tests as he had been feeling poorly for some time and will be held under observation for “several days.”

One of Argentina’s biggest sports websites, the Ole.com.ar, reported it was not an emergency and definitely not related to COVID-19 as he had tested negative in recent days.

The country’s state-run news agency Telam reported last Tuesday that Diego Armando Maradona had initially gone on self-isolation after one of his bodyguards displayed symptoms of coronavirus.

The football legend was last seen making an appearance in public on his 60th birthday last Friday before his side’s league match against Patronato.

A plaque and a cake to was gifted to him to celebrate the occasion but he did not stay to watch the game and witnesses said he looked unwell and weak.

Over the years, the former Napoli, Barcelona and Boca Juniors player has suffered frequent periods in the hospital often due to the extravagant lifestyle that accompanied and followed his playing career.

And on his 60th birthday, he guided Gimnasia La Plata to victory.