Jesús Augusto Sarcos Romero: Maradona Indisposed After Argentina’s Victory in The World Cup

SAINT PETERSBURG.-  Diego Maradona had to receive treatment after suffering an alleged indisposition after the Argentina and Nigeria match at the Russia 2018 World Cup.

Soon after the match’s end at the Saint Petersburg stadium, video images recorded by match attendees and shared via social media showed a Maradona who displayed difficulty staying upright, in his private stadium gallery.

Maradona, now 57 years old, had to be helped to leave the seats and enter a separate room. A picture showed two paramedics helping him. His eyes, in the picture, seemed closed.

Same as in the Brazil 2014 World Cup, Maradona is acting as columnist for the “De la Mano del Diez” (“From Number Ten Player’s Hand”), transmitted from Russia by the TeleSUR television network. There, he comments on matches and interviews special guests with the help of the Uruguayan journalist, Victor Hugo Morales.

Information about his health did not surface immediately, but two hours later, TeleSUR’s Twitter account uploaded a picture in which Maradona is shown smiling next to two unidentified individuals, in what seems to be one of Saint Petersburg’s airports.

The network’s president, Patricia Villegas, confirmed via Twitter: “Maradona about to board a flight to Moscow,” alongside a photograph of the number Ten player, allegedly about to board a plane.

Another picture uploaded by Villegas shows Maradona inside a plane.

Argentina won the match 2-1, letting them reach the tourney’s quarterfinals. The captain of 1986’s selected champion team cheerfully celebrated both Argentinian goals, scored by Lionel Messi and Marcos Rojo.

During Rojo’s goal, at the 86^th minute, Maradona made a rude gesture with the middle fingers of both of his hands. One of his aides held him back from the edge of the gallery.

Maradona has a long history of health issues, which he himself has admitted, stem from his previous addiction to drugs and other vices. Back in 2000, he had to be hospitalized after a cocaine overdose. It was to be the first of a series of hospital stays.

After a long treatment in Cuba for his drug addiction, Maradona returned to Argentina but suffered a relapse that would almost kill him, back in 2004.