Diego Maradona death retrial begins in Argentina
A retrial regarding the death of football legend Diego Maradona began on Tuesday, a year after the first case resulted in a mistrial.
Seven members of his medical team are charged with negligent homicide following his death from a heart attack at the age of 60. They have denied the charges. If found guilty, they face between eight and 25 years in prison.
The first trial collapsed last May when one of the three judges resigned after reportedly permitting unauthorized filming in court for a documentary.
Maradona passed away in 2020 at his home in Tigre, Buenos Aires province, while recovering from surgery to remove a brain blood clot.
Investigators classified the case as culpable homicide — a crime akin to involuntary manslaughter — because they claimed the accused were aware of Maradona’s serious health condition but failed to take the necessary actions to save him.
The heart failure caused him to suffer from acute pulmonary edema, characterized by fluid build-up in the lungs, as confirmed by the preliminary autopsy.
A panel of medical experts, asked by prosecutors to assess Maradona’s medical team, stated that the treatment he received at home was "deficient and reckless".
The panel concluded that the footballer "would have had a better chance of survival" with adequate treatment in a suitable medical facility.
The seven defendants include his primary medical adviser, Leopoldo Luque, and his psychiatrist, Agustina Cosachov. His former nurse, Dahiana Gisela Madrid, will stand trial separately.
About 100 individuals are expected to testify in front of a new panel of judges at a court in San Isidro, including Maradona’s daughters. The trial is anticipated to last until July.
When the footballer passed away on November 25, 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 stated.
Maradona began his career with Argentinos Juniors and represented Argentina in four World Cups, scoring 34 goals, including the infamous "Hand of God" goal against England in 1986.
During the latter part of his career, he battled cocaine addiction and was banned for 15 months after testing positive for the drug in 1991.
He retired from professional football in 1997, on his 37th birthday, during his second tenure with Argentine giants Boca Juniors.
Maradona was appointed head coach of the national team in 2008 and departed after the 2010 World Cup, where his team was defeated by Germany in the quarter-finals.
He later managed teams in the United Arab Emirates and Mexico and was overseeing the Argentinian club Gimnasia y Esgrima at the time of his death.
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