A retrial into the death of the football legend Diego Maradona began on Tuesday, a year after the first case collapsed in a mistrial. Seven members of his medical team are charged with negligent homicide after he died from a heart attack, aged 60. They have denied the allegations. If convicted, they face between eight and 25 years in prison.
The first trial collapsed last May when one of its three judges resigned after allegedly allowing unauthorized filming in court for a documentary. Maradona died in 2020 at his home in Tigre, Buenos Aires province, while he was recuperating from surgery to remove a brain blood clot. Investigators classified the case as culpable homicide - a crime similar to involuntary manslaughter - because they said the accused were aware of the seriousness of Maradona's health condition but did not take the necessary measures to save him.
The heart failure caused him to suffer acute pulmonary edema, as confirmed by the preliminary autopsy. A panel of medical experts, asked by prosecutors to investigate Maradona's medical team, described the treatment he received at his home as 'deficient and reckless', stating that the footballer 'would have had a better chance of survival' with adequate treatment in a medical facility.
The seven individuals on trial include his primary medical adviser, Leopoldo Luque, and psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov, while his former nurse, Dahiana Gisela Madrid, will stand in a separate trial. Around 100 witnesses, including Maradona's daughters, are set to testify at the new proceedings at a court in San Isidro, with the trial expected to last until July.
When the footballer died on 25 November 2020, then President of Argentina Alberto Fernandez declared three days of national mourning. 'Thank you for having existed, Diego. We're going to miss you all our lives,' he said.
Maradona started his career with Argentinos Juniors, representing Argentina in four World Cups and scoring 34 goals, including the infamous 'Hand of God' goal against England in 1986. His latter years were marred by cocaine addiction and he retired from professional football in 1997. He was appointed head coach of the national team in 2008 but left after the 2010 World Cup, subsequently managing teams in the United Arab Emirates and Mexico, and was leading Argentine club Gimnasia y Esgrima at the time of his death.
The first trial collapsed last May when one of its three judges resigned after allegedly allowing unauthorized filming in court for a documentary. Maradona died in 2020 at his home in Tigre, Buenos Aires province, while he was recuperating from surgery to remove a brain blood clot. Investigators classified the case as culpable homicide - a crime similar to involuntary manslaughter - because they said the accused were aware of the seriousness of Maradona's health condition but did not take the necessary measures to save him.
The heart failure caused him to suffer acute pulmonary edema, as confirmed by the preliminary autopsy. A panel of medical experts, asked by prosecutors to investigate Maradona's medical team, described the treatment he received at his home as 'deficient and reckless', stating that the footballer 'would have had a better chance of survival' with adequate treatment in a medical facility.
The seven individuals on trial include his primary medical adviser, Leopoldo Luque, and psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov, while his former nurse, Dahiana Gisela Madrid, will stand in a separate trial. Around 100 witnesses, including Maradona's daughters, are set to testify at the new proceedings at a court in San Isidro, with the trial expected to last until July.
When the footballer died on 25 November 2020, then President of Argentina Alberto Fernandez declared three days of national mourning. 'Thank you for having existed, Diego. We're going to miss you all our lives,' he said.
Maradona started his career with Argentinos Juniors, representing Argentina in four World Cups and scoring 34 goals, including the infamous 'Hand of God' goal against England in 1986. His latter years were marred by cocaine addiction and he retired from professional football in 1997. He was appointed head coach of the national team in 2008 but left after the 2010 World Cup, subsequently managing teams in the United Arab Emirates and Mexico, and was leading Argentine club Gimnasia y Esgrima at the time of his death.
