"I went there to reaffirm what I had done in the clinic here in Buenos Aires, and I'm waiting for the doctors to give me permission to leave so I can get to work," Maradona said in a televised interview on Argentina's Telefe channel.
Maradona returned to Argentina on Sunday night to spend the end-of-year holidays with his family. Since late September he had been in treatment for cocaine addiction in Cuba, where he has spent much of the last four years.
Maradona's family forced him to enter a psychiatric clinic outside Buenos Aires after he was rushed to hospital in April with heart and breathing problems, spending 10 days in intensive care while throngs of fans held vigil.
On Monday evening, the soccer great attended his eldest daughter's high school graduation in a Buenos Aires suburb. Police blocked roads leading to the school until Maradona's vehicle had safely cruised away.
Maradona, who rose from abject poverty to lead Argentina to World Cup victory in 1986, said his daughter's graduation "is the first in the Maradona family."
| |||||||||||
He looked in good spirits, laughing at the TV show's impersonators of famous soccer figures and of Cuban President Fidel Castro, who is Maradona's personal friend.
Asked when he might coach Argentina's national team, Maradona simply shook his head in response.
"When I was dying, the doors of the AFA (Argentine Football Association) were open for whatever I wanted to do. Now that I'm alive, they don't even call me on the phone to say 'Merry Christmas, Happy New Year,'" Maradona said.
(Additional reporting by Juan Bustamante)
