Argentine football legend Diego Armando Maradona is an admirer of long-time Cuban leader Fidel Castro, he said in an interview published in official Cuban media Saturday.
"Tell Fidel that I love him," Maradona told Cuban website Cubadebate.cu while on a visit to Venezuela, dpa reported.
Maradona said he would travel to Cuba within the next 30 days to meet with Castro, who turned power over to his younger brother Raul in 2006. Fidel Castro is to turn 84 on August 13.
Maradona has in the past spent time in Cuba to be treated for drug addiction.