Argentina`s fallen soccer idol, Diego Maradona, was quoted Sunday as saying he would move to Florida this year.
Maradona, who faces charges of cocaine possession and trafficking in Argentina, told the newspaper La Nacion that he, his wife Claudia and infant daughters Dalma and Giannina were planning to move to a coastal city in Florida in about three months, Reuters reported. He declined to name the city. ”We don`t want to say right now where we are moving to,” Maradona was quoted as saying. ”It will be hard for my wife and the kids, but I have already made a decision. We`ve even rented the house where we will live.”
He said he had turned down an invitation from President Fidel Castro to move to Cuba to establish soccer camps for children.
Maradona, who was arrested last April, told La Nacion he had admitted in court that he had used cocaine but denied the possession and trafficking charges.
Before his arrest, the Italian soccer league had banned the Napoli midfielder from playing for 15 months. The sport`s governing body, the International Football Federation, later extended the ban worldwide.
In his interview, Maradona said he had finished a three-month rehabilitation program and repeated that he would not return to professional soccer. He said the Italian soccer league banned him in revenge for Argentina`s victory over Italy in the 1990 World Cup semifinals.
