Madrid police talk to Maradona after `hotel altercation´
Police were called to investigate an altercation involving Diego Maradona and a woman at a hotel in Madrid, authorities said.
Officers were dispatched after a call from the hotel, but found no evidence of any serious disturbance after talking to Maradona and the woman. They said neither Maradona nor the woman showed signs of having been involved in a confrontation, and neither wanted to make a formal complaint.
Authorities said they could not confirm if the woman was a hotel guest or Maradona’s girlfriend, Rocio Oliva. They also did not say if the call came from one of the guests or from hotel employees.
Diego Maradona with his companion Rocio Oliva (Diego Maradona with girlfriend Rocio Oliva (Darko Bandic/AP)
Spanish media said police was called in after a “strong argument” involving guests at the hotel.
The 56-year-old is in the Spanish capital with his girlfriend to watch former club Napoli play Real Madrid in the last 16 of the Champions League.
He is a guest of Napoli president Aurelio de Laurentiis and is expected to give a pep talk to the players ahead of the match. Napoli’s players are staying at the same hotel.
Spanish media on Tuesday released a video of Maradona threatening a reporter who tried to talk to him at the hotel in Madrid. After the reporter said that he was struck by the former player as he passed by, Maradona came back and said: “I didn’t hit you, if I hit you, you will lose your nose.
“Know that if I fight you one-on-one, I’ll destroy you,” Maradona is heard telling the reporter.
In the discussion that lasted several seconds outside a lift, Maradona said all he wanted to do was “eat in peace”, and that the reporter was not welcomed because he was not a guest at the hotel.