Maradona hospitalised, to undergo brain surgery

Diego Maradona, Argentine football legend, will undergo emergency surgery to treat a blood clot on the brain, his personal doctor confirmed on Tuesday.

The 1986 World Cup winner was hospitalised on Monday after battling with anemia, dehydration and depression while a subdural hematoma diagnosis was revealed after an MRI scan.

According to ESPN, Leopoldo Luque, his personal physician, disclosed that he was admitted to the Ipensa clinic in La Plata.

Luque, who will perform the surgery at Clinica Olivos in Buenos Aires, said “we did an MRI one month ago and everything was normal.”

“We repeated the study, and we saw the subdural hematoma. These types of injuries are tough to spot, I don’t know if he suffered some kind of hit or fall,” he added.

“This is a routine surgery that even [Argentina’s] vice president [Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner] has undergone. The panorama has not changed, he continues to have the same clinical diagnosis, but now we have a more concrete diagnosis.

“He is alert, he understands and he is in agreement about the surgery. He is not upset.”

The Napoli legend is currently the head coach of Gimnasia y Esgrima de La Plata, a first-division side in Argentina.

Maradona is widely considered to be one of the greatest football players of all time, alongside Brazil’s Pele.