HAVANA, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Argentine soccer idol Diego Maradona flew into Cuba early Tuesday to begin treatment at a drug rehabilitation center in the eastern province of Holguin.
The 39-year-old star arrived at Holguin around 6.30 a.m. (1130 GMT), where he spoke briefly with local officials before flying on to Havana in western Cuba, witnesses said.
The star, who was admitted to a Uruguayan hospital two weeks ago suffering from hypertension and an irregular heart beat, is a self-confessed cocaine addict whose bouts with the drug bought him two 15-month suspensions during his playing days in the early 1990s.
He was accompanied by his wife Claudia Villafane, his parents, his long-time manager Guillermo Coppola, and his personal physician Alfredo Cahe, a neurologist and a cardiologist.
Rumors have abounded over the past few days as to the likely destination of the retired footballer, who is considered one of the best players in soccer history. Clinics in Boca Raton, Florida, and Toronto, Canada, were said to have been under consideration.
Maradona, who had applied for a visa to enter the United States on Monday, has a fondness for Cuba, where the Quinque- Cocal drug treatment center has offered to take him. He has frequently praised Cuban President Fidel Castro in the past.
Cahe has said that Maradona's time in overseas rehabilitation would be anywhere from three to six months.
Maradona, who led Argentina to World Cup victory in 1986 in Mexico, first started taking drugs in 1983 while playing for a Spanish soccer club in Barcelona. The habit led to doping scandals that helped eat away at his playing prowess until he retired in 1997.
Two weeks ago he was admitted to a clinic in the exclusive Uruguayan resort of Punta del Este with only 38 percent of his heart tissue functioning. Doctors blamed drugs and alcohol for what they described as a brush with death.
08:42 01-18-00
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