The 46-year-old former football icon is being treated at Guemes Hospital in Buenos Aires, where he was taken against his will late Wednesday.

Guemes Hospital director Hector Pezzella said Maradona did not currently have acute heart trouble or other system failure, that he was stable, and his life was not in danger.

Voted one of the best players of the 20th century and venerated like a god in Argentina, Maradona has a history of drug addiction and was hospitalised in 2000 and 2004 for cocaine overdoses.

While both Pezzella and Maradona's personal physician Alfredo Cahe denied Maradona's treatment was related to use of any illegal drugs, they said it was likely he had replaced a dependency on cocaine with alcohol.

Though there was no new heart trouble, Pezzella said, "alcohol can contribute to (system) imbalances, especially when excess is involved. In this case, there was (excess). There were several (medical) imbalances, and that is what (Maradona) came to get back in order."

Pezzella also said Maradona was being treated with sedatives "because that is part of the tactics and (treatment) regime for patients (...) so they do not develop withdrawal symptoms."

Argentine television said Maradona was rushed to the hospital after feeling ill at his parents' house.

His ex-wife, daughters and Cahe later arrived at the hospital, and police threw up a line outside to hold back fans and well-wishers.

Cahe later emerged to tell reporters that Maradona's life was not in danger.

"He didn't have a very consistent lifestyle, in his eating habits, his drinking and the amount of cigars he smoked," Cahe said.

"This, in addition to stress, was a logical reason to hospitalise him, and against his will," Cahe said.

The "stress" Cahe mentioned may well be linked to the star's legal problems -- in early March Argentina's central bank began collecting information about Maradona's bank accounts, suggesting the football great was under investigation for tax evasion.

Born October 30, 1960 just outside Buenos Aires, Maradona shares the FIFA title of the 20th century's best player with Brazil's Pele after a stellar career with Boca Juniors, Barcelona and Napoli.

He scored 50 goals in 115 games for Argentina during his 21 years as a football star. He proved his genius in the 1986 World Cup finals in Mexico, with a series of brilliant displays that led Argentina to the title.

But like much of his career, even that star turn was dogged by controversy.

His first goal was the notorious "Hand of God" effort, which saw Maradona fist the ball over England goalkeeper Peter Shilton.

His second goal in that match, however, has been called one of the most brilliant ever in the game.

Since Maradona's retirement at 37, scandals have continued to surround him, including marital infidelity and drugs.

In 2005 he found a new and successful career in television, hosting a widely watched show called "The Night of 10," referring to his iconic Argentina jersey number.

In 2005 he underwent gastric bypass surgery in Colombia.

Newspaper photographs early this month appeared to show he had regained many of the 50 kilograms (110 pounds) lost in his crash weight-loss treatment. Another showed him in a Buenos Aires nightclub with an injured nose after falling off a chair.