Diego Maradona undergoes successful operation, released from hospital

Argentina's World Cup-winning captain Diego Maradona was released from the hospital on Sunday after successfully undergoing a routine operation for stomach bleeding, his lawyer said.

The 58-year old coach of Mexican club Dorados de Sinaloa was diagnosed earlier this month with internal bleeding caused by a hernia and went under the knife on Saturday in a hospital on the outskirts of Buenos Aires.

"Diego Maradona has just been released from the hospital and is heading home to continue with his recuperation," the player's lawyer Matias Morla said on Twitter.

The former Boca Juniors, Napoli and Barcelona player has been no stranger to hospitals in recent years, often due to the extravagant lifestyle that helped make him one of the most iconic players of the 20th century.

He last fell ill at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, where he fainted in an executive box while watching Argentina play Nigeria.

Maradona, who led Argentina to the World Cup in 1986 before twice being banned for failing drug tests, was taken into hospital in 2004 with severe heart and respiratory problems linked to cocaine use.

He later underwent drug rehabilitation in Cuba and Argentina before a stomach-stapling operation in 2005 helped him lose weight.

In 2007 he checked himself into a clinic in Buenos Aires to help him overcome alcohol abuse problems.

In recent months he has walked with the aid of crutches due to problems with his knees.

He is expected to return to coaching duties in Mexico when he is fully fit again.