"Maradona has successfully overcome his emergency.... and for this reason has been discharged," said a statement issued by the Suizo-Argentina clinic in Buenos Aires where Maradona was readmitted last Wednesday, one week after suddenly discharging himself.

"He has been transferred to an assistance center to receive special treatment."

The statement did not say what the treatment was for and where he had gone but Argentine media quickly tracked him down to a clinic on the outskirts Buenos Aires where they said he would stay for drug rehabilitation.

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Reuters TV reporters said the clinic, situated in a wooded region, was heavily guarded by police and private security. Only hours after his arrival, small groups of onlookers and fans gathered nearby, some hanging "Get Well" messages on a gate.

Since 2000, Maradona, 43, has been living at a spa in Cuba where he has been undergoing a drugs rehabilitation programme.

The 1986 World Cup winner returned to Argentina in March and spent his time playing golf, visiting his teenage daughters and appearing on TV chat shows before being rushed to hospital on April 18 with a swollen heart and breathing problems.

He spent 12 days in intensive care, including one week on an artificial respirator, before suddenly discharging himself.

Maradona then surprised the nation by playing golf at a plush country getaway the day he left hospital for the first time.

He was reportedly paid $80,000 for a television interview two days later in which he said he "was dying" but that his fans had called him back from the tunnel of death.

Last Wednesday, he went back into hospital for what his personal doctor Alfredo Cahe said was a check-up.