Maradona vows to stay clean

Argentine football hero Diego Maradona has vowed to get healthy after a stint in hospital suffering from alcohol-induced hepatitis.

In a live televised interview, he also vowed to find out who spread the rumour that he had died while he was in treatment.

Maradona said he heard the government may have started the rumour as a distraction tactic and said he would even confront the country's leader, President Nestor Kirchner, to see if he had been involved.

"I'm sad because they didn't show any respect for my parents or my daughters. I don't know why they want to see me dead," Maradona said. "I'm alive and I want to keep living."

Maradona, who has also struggled with drug abuse and obesity, admitted that excessive drinking may have harmed his health, but he said a previous bout of hepatitis in the early 1980s compounded the problem.

One of the most brilliant soccer players ever, Maradona led Argentina to its 1986 World Cup victory and is revered in his own country and around the world.

Speaking more slowly than usual, Maradona said he was still taking medication but he did not say what kind.

But he was alert enough to crack jokes and spoke emotionally about his family.

On Sunday, Maradona left the psychiatric clinic where he was treated for two weeks after being hospitalised.

His personal doctor said Maradona will continue going to the clinic three times a week for follow-up treatment.

"I want to rest. I want to get in good physical shape," Maradona said. "I've always punished my body."

"As I've said before: what a player I'd have been if I hadn't done cocaine," he said, chuckling.

The 46-year-old added: "I was ill, I recognise that. There were some very hard days, I do not recommend it to anybody. I made a mistake and paid a very high price.

"Today I am calm, doing the diet and taking care of myself. Now I want to rest in order to be better physically. I am not a drunk."

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