Diego Maradona undergoes “successful” brain blood clot surgery

He was admitted to hospital earlier in the week

Diego Maradona has undergone successful surgery on a blood clot on his brain, his doctor has confirmed. The Argentine football icon was admitted to hospital in Buenos Aires on Monday, suffering from dehydration and anaemia. It later emerged that doctors had discovered a subdural hematoma, requiring emergency surgery.

Maradona was operated on immediately, with his personal physician Leopoldo Luque indicating the surgery had been completed successfully.

Dr Luque said Maradona had "coped well with the surgery" and that everything was "under control".

The former Barcelona and Napoli star had been transferred to the Olivos Clinic in La Plata where was operated on at 20:00 local time on Tuesday. The procedure is said to have taken about 80 minutes.

Maradona achieved iconic status in his homeland after leading Argentina to World Cup glory in Mexico in 1986. He has been the manager of Primera Division Gimnasia y Esgrima since last year.

He was last seen on Friday, his 60th birthday, where he was in attendance for Gimnasia's game with Patronato.

Gimnasia fans gathered outside the hospital where Maradona was operated on and began singing his name when news of his successful surgery was announced.