Gazza expected to fly back today

Paul Gascoigne should be flying back to the UK today.

Though he had yesterday checked out of the Excelsior Hotel, Floriana, where he was staying, sources said he was set to board an Air Malta plane to Heathrow this afternoon.

On Sunday, former football star Paul Gascoigne was stopped from entering the airport's passport control section because he had had too much to drink. After being reported in local media and British tabloids as having foul-mouthed the airline for preventing him from catching his flight back home, it seems he is still choosing to fly Air Malta.

Paul Gascoigne arrived in Malta a week today to take part in last Thursday's Italy vs England Legends football match, and ended up staying here longer than expected.

It seems the player is still battling his demons with the bottle. Just last month he spent a month at the £3,500-a-week Cottonwood rehab clinic in Arizona. It was his sixth spell in rehab after long years of fighting alcohol. His heavy drinking led to the breakdown of his marriage and the premature end of his football career.