Diego Maradona could have been the culprit behind Chelsea's hotel fire scare ahead of their clash with Manchester United.

Maradona's love of Cuban cigars was said to blame for evacuation of Manchester's Radisson Edwardian Hotel at 7am on Sunday morning, just nine hours before kick-off at Old Trafford.

Chelsea's players were forced to wait outside the hotel in bitterly cold conditions for 40 minutes before the could return to their rooms.

United went on to defeat a tired-looking Chelsea side 3-0 while Argentina coach Maradona - in Manchester to watch Carlos Tevez - watched from the stands.

The Sun quotes a fireman at the scene saying: "It looks as though it was set off by Diego and his entourage smoking cigars on the 14th floor."