"I see in him the intention to rehabilitate himself soon," said Hector Pezzella, director of the Guemes clinic in Buenos Aires where Maradona, 46, has been for a week with hepatitis caused by alcohol.

"He knows that checking in is for the best," Pezzella told reporters.

He said the former captain of the Argentine squad was under sedation to avoid alcohol withdrawal symptoms, and so family visits were limited to his former wife, Claudia Villafane, daughters Dalma and Giannina and a few others.

The doctor said that the alcohol withdrawal episodes were less frequent and Maradona was improving since he was admitted on March 28.

Maradona has been called one of the greatest players of the last century but his career on and off the pitch has been marred by repeated drug and alcohol abuse. He retired from professional football in 1997.

He has suffered from chronic hepatitis since he contracted hepatitis B in 1991, while he played for Barcelona.

He suffered a heart attack in 2004 following a cocaine overdose, and has sought treatment in Switzerland and Cuba.