Mavys Alvarez Says Diego Maradona Raped Her in 2001 When She Was 16 Years Old

Mavys Alvarez, a Cuban woman who previously detailed a relationship with former Argentine soccer star Diego Maradona, said Monday he subjected her to sexual and physical abuse and pressured her into taking cocaine. Maradona died in November 2020.

Alvarez, who said in the past she engaged in a consensual relationship with Maradona but mentioned he forced himself on her on occasion, alleged Monday the latter instance occurred in 2001 when she was 16 and met him in Cuba while he was in Havana for drug treatment, per Reuters' Ramiro Scandalo.

"He covers my mouth, he rapes me, I don't want to think about it too much," Alvarez said. "I stopped being a girl, all my innocence was stolen from me. It's hard. You stop living the innocent things that a girl of that age has to experience."

Alvarez was speaking at a press conference Monday after testifying in front of the Argentine Ministry of Justice Court last week as it investigates allegations of human trafficking by members Maradona's former entourage.

She also said there was an instance where Maradona became "super aggressive" when she refused to take cocaine, per Sky Sports. Alvarez said she eventually relented and tried the drug after Maradona told her she "should do it for him."

She added the relationship with Maradona, who was around 40 when they met, was only allowed by her family because of pressure from Cuba's government under President Fidel Castro, who died in 2016.

"My family would never have accepted it if the Cuban government had not been involved," Alvarez said. "They were forced in another way to accept a relationship that was not good for them, or for anyone."

Neither representatives for Maradona nor the Cuban government have commented on the allegations.

Fernando Burlando, an attorney for Carlos Ferro Viera, a businessman who was part of Maradona's entourage, described Alvarez's testimony to Sky Sports as a "compendium of accusations more than anything to Diego Maradona."

Alvarez said her decision to come forward with the abuse allegations came from a desire to "help all women, all victims of trafficking, of crime."