Maradona began using cocaine in the mid-1980s – during its heyday, he developed an addiction to drugs and alcohol over the next two decades.
His drug use began in 1982 and reportedly got worse in 1984 when he moved to Napoli and had connections with the Comorra.
In 2014, Maradona said of his drug use: “I gave my opponents a huge advantage. Do you know the gamer I could have been if I hadn’t been doing drugs? ‘
His first real punishment came in 1991 when he was banned from Napoli for 15 months after testing positive for cocaine. Later that year he was arrested in Buenos Aires for possessing half a kilo of cocaine and given a 14-month suspended sentence.
In 1994, Maradona was back in the Argentine national team and made headlines worldwide for a now famous screaming celebration in the camera lens after a goal against Greece. However, his tournament was due to end early after he was expelled days later for testing positive for five variants of ephedrine, a banned substance. He was banned for 15 months and ended his international career.
In 1995 he moved to Boca Juniors, but two years later he failed a drug test for the third time in six years, ending his career as a player. Officially, a “banned substance” is all that has been revealed about this test, but Boca President Mauricio Macri has said in interviews that cocaine was found in a urine sample.
In 1996, Maradona said publicly: “I was, am and will always be a drug addict.”
The football legend suffered an overdose in 2000 and a heart attack in 2004. He had gastric bypass surgery a year later, and was hospitalized again in 2007, this time with hepatitis.
It is then assumed that he stopped using drugs and told a journalist in 2017 that he has not used drugs for 13 years and is feeling “great”.
He has been drinking alcohol since 2004 and made headlines at the 2018 World Cup for his bizarre antics at a number of games in Argentina. A video was made of him drinking tequila on a plane and claiming that he “drank all the wine” before defeating Nigeria.
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