The saddest part about Diego Maradona's tortured final years is that the football legend appeared to be making a genuine effort to live clean.

The Argentine maestro claimed to have kicked his infamous drug habit for at least 13 years but on Thursday (AEDT) a lifetime in the fast lane caught up with him, dying of a heart attack aged 60.

Maradona's list of health scares and off-field scandals runs as long as his incredible football accolades.

The little genius overdosed on drugs in 2000, survived a heart attack in 2004, underwent gastric bypass surgery in 2005 and was hospitalised for hepatitis in 2007.

Maradona's cocaine addiction - "my toughest rival" - was just part of the problem.

Diego Maradona passes away

Alcohol abuse and over-eating also took their toll.

"I gave my opponents a big advantage due to my illness," Maradona told Argentina's Tyc Sports in 2014.

"Do you know the player I could have been if I hadn't taken drugs?"

"I am 53 going on 78 because my life hasn't been normal.

"I've lived 80 (years) with the life I've gone through."

In 2017, Maradona told Tuttonapoli in that he had not taken drugs for 13 years, "and I feel great."

In a 2015 Facebook video, he expanded on his battle with addiction.

"I'm about to be 12 years clean from drugs because it does not let me wake up every morning the way I do today," Maradona said.

"I have chosen to live life for my daughters, grandchildren and those still to come."

But fears for one of the game's most mesmeric figures re-emerged in 2018 when he stole the show from the stands as a World Cup fan in Russia.

Cameras revealed a white powdery substance smeared on the glass of his viewing box as Maradona went wild celebrating Argentina's goals in a 2-1 win over Nigeria.

His antics went viral before taking a darker turn as he collapsed mid-game and had to be carried by friends to receive medical attention from paramedics.

Maradona blamed the episode on drinking "all the wine" but rumours persisted about a relapse into drug use.

Maradona said he started using cocaine as a 22-year-old lighting up Europe's club competitions in 1982.

Maradona dazzles down under

"It was enough for me to feel alive," he said.

"I tried drugs because there are drugs like that everywhere in football.

"I used to go to the bathroom with the lights off.

"I was a drug addict, I am a drug addict and I always will be a drug addict in everyone's eyes.

"Because drug addicts aren't forgiven for anything...

"In Napoli, drugs were everywhere.

"They practically brought them to me on a tray."

Like most addicts, Maradona ebbed and flowed through good days and bad.

The moment of clarity came when he woke from a cocaine-induced coma and found his four-year-old daughter pleading for him to stop.

Foster pays tribute to Maradona

In 1996, Maradona spoke at length about his battle at a drugs charity event.

"Drugs are everywhere and I do not want kids to take them," he said.

"I have two girls and I thought it best to say this, a father's obligation… I was, am and always will be a drug addict.

"I never even used to go to bed.

"I didn't even know what a pillow was.

"Now I want to see the sun, I want to go to bed at night.

"Ever since I kicked my illness, when I was wasting away... I want to explain to you that when I was using I was falling apart.

"It was a step backwards and a footballer always has to go forward.

"That all stopped thanks to my daughters.

"I was left without a cent, I went back to work, my youngest daughter, who was four, convinced me.

"When I was in a coma and she touched my bedsheet to wake me up."