Seven members of Diego Maradona’s medical team are being retried in Argentina for negligent homicide following a previous mistrial, facing allegations that their reckless care led to the soccer legend’s death.
A new trial into the death of Argentine soccer icon Diego Maradona commenced on Tuesday in San Isidro, with seven medical professionals facing charges of negligent homicide. This retrial follows the collapse of a previous case in 2024, which ended in a mistrial after a judge was found to have violated judicial rules by participating in a documentary interview. The defendants, including Maradona’s neurosurgeon and psychiatrist, are accused of “inappropriate and reckless” care leading up to the star’s fatal heart attack on November 25, 2020.
The prosecution plans to call nearly 100 witnesses to support their claim that Maradona’s recovery home was a “theatre of horror” where standard medical protocols were ignored. This argument is bolstered by a 2021 medical board report which concluded that the 1986 World Cup hero was left to his fate for a “prolonged, agonizing period.” If convicted, the medical team members could face prison sentences ranging from eight to 25 years.
The defense maintains that Maradona’s death was an inevitable consequence of his decades-long struggle with drug and alcohol addiction, rather than medical malpractice. While seven defendants appear in this court, an eighth a nurse will be tried separately by a jury at a later date. As the proceedings restart, legal teams are expected to re-evaluate their strategies based on the forensic evidence and testimonies already aired during the aborted first trial.