Diego Maradona's mother seriously ill

Argentine football icon Diego Maradona yesterday revealed that his mother Dalma Franco was seriously ill and on a ventilator in a Buenos Aires hospital.



"My mother is on a ventilator. I pray to God he doesn't take her from me," the former Argentina World Cup-winner and coach said.

"Sadly, she is very vulnerable and we're all suffering, seeing her in this state -- she was all right until last week," he added, noting that his mother, known by her nickname Dona Tota, is 81 years old and was suffering from a virus lately. She also has a history of heart problems.