Diego Maradona to become father of eight by recognising three children in Cuba
The World Cup winner's daughter joked that her father "only needs three more to make 11" - enough to fill an entire football team.
Saturday 9 March 2019 03:58, UK
Diego Maradona is to legally recognise three children he fathered in Cuba, his lawyer has said.
The children - who were born to two different women on the island - will officially make the Argentina football legend a father of eight.
For years, the 58-year-old refused to acknowledge any children other than those he had with ex-wife Claudia Villafane, who he divorced in 2003 after almost two decades of marriage.
Those were daughters Giannina, now 29, and Dalma, now 31.
But he later recognised Diego Junior, 32, and Jana, 22, after court battles with their mothers, and has since had another child, six year-old Diego Fernando, with Veronica Ojeda.
Lawyer Matias Morla told Argentina TV station Channel 13 that Maradona would travel to Havana later this year to take paternity tests and formally recognise children six, seven and eight, who will be able to take his name.
Mr Morla said: "He is going to take care of what he has to do."
Following the news, Giannina joked on Instagram that her father "only needs three more to make 11" - enough to fill an entire football team.
"You can do it," she added.
The World Cup winner, who now coaches Mexican side Dorados de Sinaloa, will have to appear in court in Cuba, where he previously spent several years undergoing rehab for cocaine addiction.
During his time there in the early 2000s, he famously befriended communist revolutionary and president Fidel Castro.
He made headlines at the World Cup last year when he reportedly required medical treatment after wildly celebrating a dramatic win for Argentina over Nigeria.
He later sparked controversy with a hard-hitting assessment of the performances of star man Lionel Messi at the tournament, which saw his side crash out in the first knockout round.