Maradona Speaks Out

Tue., Sept. 2, 1997

Associated Press

Diego Maradona, his voice rambling and in tears, said Monday he has “no more energy to go on fighting” and claimed he was being persecuted by people who wanted to see him dead.

Maradona was speaking in public for the first time since the Argentine Football Association announced last Thursday he had failed a drug test for the third time in his career.

“This has been horrible. I give up,” said Maradona. “I had begun to believe again that the surname Maradona could return to where it should be.”

The AFA has temporarily banned Maradona, 36, from playing until new tests come back.

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Maradona Speaks Out

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