Mavys Álvarez, the Cuban woman who has filed a complaint in the Argentinean courts for alleged human trafficking while she was in a relationship with the late star Diego Maradona, said that when she was 16 years old, the former footballer subjected her to physical and sexual violence and introduced her to drug addiction.

During a press conference in Buenos Aires on November 22, Alvarez, who now lives in the United States, also said that Fidel Castro's government and Maradona's close associates covered up what happened during her nearly five-year relationship with the football idol on the island. The football legend spent several years in Cuba to treat his cocaine addiction at the invitation of Castro himself after suffering an overdose that left him on the verge of death.