Maradona released from clinic

Soccer great Diego Maradona has been conditionally released from a psychiatric clinic where he has been treated for an addiction to alcohol, his doctor, Alfredo Cahe, said today.

“It’s a very positive step for his treatment,” Mr Cahe told reporters after Maradona spent his first night since April 21 outside the Avril clinic.

Maradona is still supposed to report to the clinic for treatment three times a week. The 46-year-old has been treated at several clinics since he was brought to a hospital on March 28.

Doctors say excessive alcohol consumption led to a form of hepatitis. He led Argentina to the 1986 World Cup and is considered among the all-time greats of soccer alongside Brazil’s Pele.

Maradona has battled obesity and cocaine addiction since his 1997 retirement and undergone eight serious hospitalisations in the decade since.