A PSYCHIATRIST treating Diego Maradona for drug abuse said yesterday the Argentine soccer star was not an addict but a man who sometimes cracked under the burden of worldwide fame.

At a news conference in the western Swiss town of Bellelay, professor Harutyan Arto Van said the 35 year old Maradona had "a profound desire to break the vicious circle" of drug taking.

The pressures he faces as a celebrity are so enormous that his physical and mental resistance breaks down, Van said. It is at these fatal moments that he falls back on drugs.

Maradona, once considered the world's greatest soccer player, flew into Switzerland on Tuesday for a drugs cure, two days after abruptly quitting his club Boca Juniors.

He has twice been suspended for drug abuse, in 1992 and in 1994, and has been arrested in Argentina for cocaine possession.

Maradona was originally reported to be staying at a clinic on the shores of Lake Geneva, but in fact has been living at a hotel near Nettchatel, where he has been receiving treatment.

The news conference was held at a clinic in the Jura mountains, where Van, who is also a professor at Berne University, practises.

Van outlined a 10 day, three stage course of treatment focusing on Maradona's psychological, rather than physical, need for drugs.

The first stage involves administering a drug by intravenous drip that boosts his defences. The drug was an entirely natural product said Van.

The second stage consists of sessions with psychiatrists to reduce Maradona's "emotional overburdening".

The third stage which would not begin until next week would directly tackle his drugs problem by trying to neutralise his obsession with drugs consumption.

Diego Maradona is not an addict in the sense that he faces withdrawal pains. The problem is more psychological than physical," Van said.

When he needs a drug like cocaine he has to take it and then he can stop later. But he is always disappointed with himself afterwards. This is why he is determined once and for all to renounce drugs," he added.

Another psychiatrist treating Maradona. Dr Giovanni Spano said the Argentine had been given no guarantees that he would be cured of his drug compulsion.

"This is the first step. You can't change your life like you can change socks said Spano.

Recover will take time. Motivation is important and he wants to quit but the possibility of a relapse is always a reality.