Argentina's fallen football hero Diego Maradona has failed to turn up to give a handwriting sample sought by police in connection with his positive drugs test in August.

The 37-year-old former World Cup star had been ordered to provide a sample of his signature to confirm he had signed the drug test form when he gave the positive sample.

Maradona managed to avoid a third drugs ban in September after a judge lifted a ban on him amid doubts the urine sample belonged to him.

The Argentinian is currently trying to rebuild his career in his native Buenos Aires but he has been hampered by his drug problems, which date back to the late 1980s when he began experimenting with cocaine while playing in Italy for Napoli.

Maradona, who helped Argentina win the World Cup in 1986, is undoubtedly one of the greatest footballers of his generation and was named last month as a future Hall of Famer in a poll of 500,000 fans in 110 countries.

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