Diego Maradona to undergo surgery for internal bleeding

The 58-year old football legend had failed to show up for training at Mexican side Dorados where he is now a coach. It has now emerged that he has been admitted after internal bleeding in his stomach was detected during a routine check up.

Maradona was undergoing routine examinations in his homeland before returning to Mexico, where he is coach of second division side Dorados de Sinaloa, when doctors discovered the problem.

Argentine sports newspaper Ole said he would have an endoscopy at a clinic in Olivos, on the outskirts of the capital Buenos Aires with children Gianna, Janita and Diego Jr at his side.

The severity of his condition is not known and the hospital has made no official statement.

The health scare is the latest for Maradona, who has suffered frequent hospital stays over the years, often due to the extravagant lifestyle that helped make him one of the most admired and iconic footballers of the 20th century. He last fell ill at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, where he was filmed passing out in an executive box at the Argentina-Nigeria game.

Maradona was hospitalised in 2004 with severe heart and respiratory problems linked to cocaine use. He later underwent drug rehabilitation in Cuba and Argentina before a stomach-stapling operation in 2005 helped him lose weight.

In 2007 he checked himself into a clinic in Buenos Aires to help him overcome alcohol abuse problems. In recent months he has walked with the aid of crutches due to problems with his knees.