BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – Argentine soccer great Diego Maradona will undergo surgery for a subdural haematoma, a blood clot on the brain, his personal physician told reporters on Tuesday, after he was admitted to hospital a day earlier.
The operation was expected to begin within hours to address the condition, which is a pool of blood, often caused by a head injury, that can put pressure on the brain.
Leopoldo Luque, Maradona’s personal physician, said the procedure was a “routine surgery”.
“We are going to operate today. He is lucid, he understands, he agrees with the intervention,” Luque said.
Luque added that Maradona will be transferred to Olivos Clinic in Buenos Aires province.
Maradona, 60, was admitted to the Ipensa clinic in La Plata, Argentina on Monday for anaemia and dehydration.
Maradona, who won the World Cup with Argentina in 1986 and is widely considered to be one of the greatest players of all time, coaches local club Gimnasia y Esgrima.
He last appeared in public on his 60th birthday last Friday before his side’s league match against Patronato.
Dozens of fans of Gimnasia y Esgrima have converged on the hospital since Monday evening, waving flags and holding posters with messages of support as they waited for news of Maradona’s health.
“What we want the most is for Diego to get out of all this. He can, he is the greatest, the greatest in the world,” said Diego Bermudez, 41, a Maradona fan waiting outside the hospital.
Reporting by Ramiro Scandolo and Jorge Otaola; writing by Cassandra Garrison, editing by Ed Osmond and Toby Davis