POLICE were called to investigate an altercation involving Diego Maradona and a woman at a hotel in Madrid, authorities have said.
Officers were dispatched after a call from the hotel but found no evidence of any serious disturbance after talking to the pair. They said neither showed signs of having been involved in a confrontation, and neither wanted to make a formal complaint.
Authorities said they could not confirm if the woman was a hotel guest or Maradona’s girlfriend, Rocio Oliva. They also did not say if the call came from one of the guests or from hotel employees.
Spanish media said police were called in after a “strong argument” involving guests at the hotel. It was not clear if police talked to Maradona in his room or somewhere else in the hotel.
The 56-year-old is in Madrid as a guest of Napoli president Aurelio de Laurentiis as his side take on Real Madrid in the last 16 of the Champions League. Maradona is expected to give a pep talk to the players ahead of the match. Napoli’s players are staying at the same hotel.
Spanish media on Tuesday released a video of Maradona threatening a reporter who tried to talk to him at the hotel in Madrid. After the reporter said that he was struck by the former player as he passed by, Maradona came back and said: “I didn’t hit you, if I hit you, you will lose your nose.”
“Know that if I fight you one-on-one, I’ll destroy you,” Maradona is heard telling the reporter. In the discussion that lasted several seconds outside a lift, Maradona said all he wanted to do was “eat in peace” and that the reporter was not welcome because he was not a guest at the hotel.
The outspoken former Argentina great has been involved in a long list of controversies, both on and off the field. His tumultuous personal life is often a target for local media in Argentina. In 2014, he slapped a journalist in the face and called him an “idiot” in Buenos Aires.
Ten years earlier, Maradona fired an air gun at reporters and was given a two-year suspended sentence.
He led Argentina to World Cup glory in 1986 and was banished from the 1994 World Cup for doping after testing positive for five types of stimulants and diet pills.
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