BUENOS AIRES, March 29: Claudia Villafane, wife of Argentine football legend Diego Maradona, has filed for divorce after 14 years of marriage, according to television reports here on Friday.

Villafane’s father Coco said that the problem had been brewing for some time, with reports stating that she began legal proceedings on March 7 and is demanding custody of their two daughers Dalma and Giannina.

Maradona’s agent Guillermo Copolla, however, refused to confirm or deny the report. “I won’t say yes or no. Diego knows little or nothing about this. If I can avoid worrying him all the better,” said Coppola.

The 42-year-old hero of Argetina’s 1986 World Cup triumph has been receiving treatment in Cuba for the past three years for drug addiction.

“If Diego lives in Cuba it’s because he has found the tranquility that he does not have here. Although for that he must live far from his friends, his wife and daughters,” said Coppola.

Coppola added that he believed that “the affection, the tie between them, the feeling that unites them is indestructible.”

In addition to the 1986 World Cup triumph Maradona also led the national team to the 1990 World Cup final and Napoli to two Italian League titles (1987, 1990) and UEFA Cup (1989).

He tested positive for cocaine and was suspended 15 months by FIFA in 1991, but returned to World Cup as Argentine captain in 1994 only to be kicked out of tournament after two games when doping tests found five banned substances in his urine.—AFP