Soccer: Maradona denied entry to Japan for World Cup

SANTIAGO, Chile - Diego Maradona has scrapped plans to go to the World Cup in Japan because a previous drug offence bars his entry into the country.

"I'm not going to the World Cup. Japan won't let me go, they won't give me a visa even though I'm a world champion," Maradona said in an interview on Chilean television.

The famed ex-athlete said he was resigned to watching the games on television in Cuba, where he has been undergoing drug therapy for the past two years.

"We have a good chance. We arrived at just the right moment, with players in their prime and I think the coach is the envy of every player," he said.

Considered one of the best soccer players of all time, Maradona led Argentina to World Cup victory in Mexico in 1986.

Japanese law forbids entry into the country by any foreigner with a history of drug-related offences.

Maradona was arrested for taking cocaine in April 1991 and was ordered by a judge to quit the habit under medical supervision.

During a short visit to Chile, Maradona appeared on a popular television show dancing the tango with the Chilean wife of ex-Argentine president Carlos Menem.

Argentina face England, Sweden and Nigeria in the group stages of the competition which kicks off next Friday.

- REUTERS

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