Argentinian soccer great Diego Maradona, who tested positive for cocaine after being hospitalised in Uruguay this week, was questioned on Saturday by a Uruguayan judge who wants to know where he got the drug, his lawyer said.

Victor Della Valle, Maradona's Uruguayan lawyer, told reporters that Judge Adriana de los Santos interrogated the 39-year-old athlete at the Cantegril clinic in the resort of Punta del Este after his health improved remarkably.

Maradona, whose career has been marred by drug abuse, was admitted to the hospital on Tuesday with hypertension and an irregular heartbeat. On Wednesday, he tested positive for cocaine, setting off a police investigation.

He is not under arrest because drug use is not illegal in Uruguay. Drug trafficking is a crime, however.

Earlier on Saturday, Frank Torres, Maradona's doctor at the clinic, said he had given the judge permission to question Maradona after deciding that he was strong enough to testify.

Police chief Maximo Costa Rocha said antidrug forces were trying to identify Maradona's drug connections.