New Trial Opens in Maradona Death Case as Prosecutors Attack Medical Care
The new trial over the death of Diego Maradona began on Tuesday in San Isidro, Buenos Aires province, and the keyword new trial marks a case that has already once collapsed in scandal. Prosecutors say the football legend’s medical team failed to provide proper care after his 2020 death at home while he was recovering from brain surgery. Seven healthcare professionals are facing charges tied to negligent homicide, and they deny wrongdoing.
What changed as the new trial began
The proceedings are taking place before a new set of judges at a court in San Isidro, with around 100 people expected to testify and the case set to run until July. Maradona died on 25 November 2020 at his home in Tigre, in Buenos Aires province, after suffering heart failure that caused acute pulmonary oedema, when fluid builds up in the lungs. Investigators classified the death as culpable homicide, saying those accused knew how serious Maradona’s condition was but did not take the necessary steps to save him.
The first trial collapsed last May after one of the three judges resigned, following allegations that unauthorized filming had been allowed in court for a documentary. The new trial has returned the case to the center of public attention, with Maradona’s daughters among those expected to testify. The hearing is being watched closely because the outcome could bring prison terms of between eight and 25 years if the defendants are convicted.
Prosecutors press the case for negligence
At the opening of the new trial, prosecutor Patricio Ferrari said Maradona’s medical team was a “bunch of amateurs” who missed a chance to save his life. He said Maradona began to die 12 hours before his actual death and argued that transferring him to a clinic during his final week would have saved him.
A panel of medical experts asked by prosecutors to review Maradona’s care said the treatment he received at home was “deficient and reckless. ” It concluded that he would have had a better chance of survival with adequate treatment in an appropriate medical facility. The seven people on trial include his main medical adviser, Leopoldo Luque, and his psychiatrist, Agustina Cosachov. His former nurse, Dahiana Gisela Madrid, is due to face a separate trial.
Reactions from the courtroom in San Isidro
Maradona’s former partner, Veronica Ojeda, was present in the packed courtroom and said she trusted the judiciary to deliver justice. “That’s what we all need: justice for Diego. We want to live in peace and for Diego to rest in peace, ” she said. Outside the courthouse, about 50 people carrying Argentinian flags and signs called for justice for “D10s, ” a reference to Maradona’s number 10 shirt and the Spanish word for God.
The case has also revived memories of how Maradona was mourned nationally after his death, when then President Alberto Fernandez declared three days of national mourning. The new trial now shifts the focus back to the care he received at home and whether that decision, central to the prosecution’s case, helped lead to his death. As testimony continues in the new trial, the court in San Isidro will determine whether the medical team’s decisions amounted to criminal negligence in Maradona’s death.
