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Maradona says old lifestyle would kill him

May 17, 2005 16:52 IST

Diego Maradona said on Monday that if he returned to his old lifestyle, he would die.

"I can't go back to that, it would kill me," he told a news conference shortly after returning from a trip to Spain and Cuba.

Maradona, who last year spent 10 days in intensive care with heart and breathing problems, said his daughters had brought him to his senses.

"My daughters got me out of a really ugly situation," said the former Argentina captain. "I no longer live for the night and I sleep in my parents' home."

"Before, I had lots of money and I didn't have any time. Today, I have less money but I have more time for my daughters."

Maradona, 44,

underwent a drugs rehabilitation programme in Argentina and then Cuba after leaving hospital last year and also had a stomach stapling operation in Colombia in March.

Maradona, who had become scarcely recognisable from his playing days, said he had lost 28 kilos and had even been able to play a six-a-side football match during his visit to Spain.

He did not want to commit himself on whether he would accept an offer to take charge of the youth division at Boca Juniors, the club he supported as a boy and where he had two stints as a player.

"We have to keep talking," he said. "It's a complex contract, not something to sign immediately. If I don't fix up something with Boca, I'll go back to Cuba."

Source: REUTERS
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