A 37-year-old Cuban woman, who had an affair with Diego Maradona as a minor 20 years ago, accused the late Argentine idol and his entourage on Monday of violence and abuse, including rape and holding her against her will. Mavys Alvarez Rego, who now lives in Miami, told the press in Buenos Aires how she met Maradona at 16, when the star, then in his forties, lived in Cuba, where he was undergoing drug treatment. "I was dazzled, he won me over... But after two months everything started to change", she said, claiming that Maradona, who died from a heart attack a year ago at the age of 60, had pushed her into trying cocaine, in turn making her dependent.

"I loved him but I hated him too, I even thought about suicide," she said.

Maradona is widely considered to be one of the greatest footballers in history and inspired Argentina to the 1986 World Cup.