A day after Maradona was taken by ambulance to the Guemes Sanatorium, clinic director Hector Pezzella said today the 47-year-old former star was under sedation to avoid problems with withdrawal from alcohol.

He said Maradona's life was not in danger and that he remained in stable condition and was improving.

"Alcoholism in Mr. Maradona or in any other patient is not something to be taken lightly. One has to treat it," Pezzella declared at the door of the clinic, his words carried live on Argentine television.

"They are undertaking treatment specifically for addiction," he added. "At this moment, they are treating him for a problem of addiction to alcohol."

Maradona led Argentina to the 1986 World Cup title and the final in 1990. In 2001, FIFA declared him one of the greatest players in soccer history, alongside Pele.

But off the field, he has battled cocaine addiction and obesity. In 2005, Maradona underwent gastric bypass surgery in Colombia, sharply reducing his weight.

Maradona's physician, Alfredo Cahe, said the soccer great — despite his own protests — was taken to the clinic late Wednesday for health problems brought on by overeating, drinking and "the quantity of cigars he smoked."

He added Maradona woke early Thursday in his 13th-floor hospital bed and cursed him.

"He didn't want to be there," Cahe told Argentina's independent Radio Union. "After that, they sedated him again, and he slept."

Cahe said Maradona's health problems did not involve cocaine or other dangerous drugs but added Maradona had been in low spirits because of family and other problems.

"It was necessary to hospitalize him," Cahe said.

He said Maradona would remain hospitalized at least a week.

Local reports said Maradona had been seen recently frequenting local restaurants and nightclubs. Cahe recently told the sports daily Ole that he was considering sending Maradona to Switzerland to remove him from his social "environment" and better control his diet.

The Colombian doctor who performed the gastric bypass surgery said Thursday that Mardona's refusal to get regular checkups after the 2005 operation might have contributed to his losing battle against obesity.

"Any patient who undergoes this sort of procedure needs to submit to regular checkups to make sure they're following recovery instructions, but in Maradona's case there was no follow-up," Francisco Holguin, leader of the Medihelp Service clinic, told Caracol Radio.

Maradona was hospitalized in Uruguay in 2000 and again in 2004 in Buenos Aires. Maradona was counseled for drug abuse in Argentina in 2004 and in September of that year traveled to Cuba for treatment at Havana's Center for Mental Health.

Maradona, who also won Italian and Argentine league titles, failed a doping test in 1991 and was banned for 15 months. He failed another drug test at the 1994 World Cup in the United States.

He retired in 1997.

Maradona has acknowledged he intentionally struck the ball with his hand in the famous "Hand of God" goal against England in the 1986 World Cup quarterfinals — calling that trick just "a bit of mischief."

The referee allowed the goal to stand despite protests by the English team that Maradona punched the ball into the net.

That 1986 quarterfinal match against England also included what soccer's governing body declared the greatest goal in World Cup competition — one in which Maradona dribbled half the length of the field, dodging five opponents to score the winning goal.

Maradona's exploits have made him a national hero in Argentina, though the few fans waiting for news outside the hospital where overwhelmed by scores of reporters and camera crews.

Adrian Alonso, a 31-year-old fan, said he knows the former star isn't universally loved because of his antics on and off the field, but Alonso said he was ready to remain for days in a vigil outside the clinic.