Seven Face Prison As Argentina Reopens Maradona Death Trial
Nearly six years after his death plunged Argentina into grief, the courtroom battle over who bears responsibility for Diego Maradona’s final hours is beginning all over again, this time with new judges, renewed legal strategies, and the weight of a nation still mourning its most celebrated son.
A retrial of seven healthcare professionals accused of negligent homicide in connection with the death of the 1986 FIFA World Cup winner opened Tuesday at a court in San Isidro on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, nearly a year after the first proceedings collapsed in a mistrial when one of three presiding judges, Julieta Makintach, resigned following revelations that she had allowed a camera crew into the courthouse to film her for a documentary series about the case, in breach of judicial ethics.
Makintach later faced impeachment proceedings, and the court ruled that the entire trial would have to start afresh, effectively erasing all proceedings since March 11, 2025, when the case had begun amid intense public interest.
Maradona, widely regarded as one of the greatest footballers in history, died on November 25, 2020, aged 60, after suffering a cardiac arrest at a rented house outside Buenos Aires, where he had been discharged to recover following brain surgery to remove a blood clot. Medical examination found he died of heart failure and acute pulmonary edema, a condition marked by dangerous fluid accumulation in the lungs.
Standing accused are his principal medical advisor, neurosurgeon Leopoldo Luque; psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov; psychologist Carlos Díaz; medical care coordinators Nancy Forlini and Mariano Perroni; designated doctor Pedro Di Spagna; and nurse Ricardo Almirón. A separate nurse, Dahiana Madrid, is to be tried before a jury at a later date. All defendants have denied wrongdoing.
Prosecutors maintain that the home where Maradona convalesced in the Buenos Aires suburb of Tigre amounted to what they described in earlier proceedings as a “theatre of horror,” where adequate medical protocols were ignored. The prosecution is expected to present more than 120,000 messages and audio recordings from private conversations between those responsible for Maradona’s care.
The charge, homicide with possible intent, is based on the legal premise that the accused pursued a course of action while knowing it could prove fatal. If convicted, each defendant faces a prison sentence of between eight and 25 years.
The defense, however, maintains a fundamentally different account. Luque, Maradona’s personal physician for the last four years of his life, has maintained that it was Maradona himself who insisted on home hospitalisation, and that his death “was sudden and without agony.” Vadim Mischanchuk, lawyer for psychiatrist Cosachov, said publicly on Sunday that “if there’s one thing that has been ruled out, it’s a malicious criminal plan to kill Maradona. Anyone who continues to maintain that is cruel to the family and the accused.”
An autopsy found Maradona died of natural causes, a heart attack, leading legal experts to note that establishing liability beyond reasonable doubt may prove difficult, with the possibility of acquittals remaining open.
Both prosecutors and defense lawyers now face the task of reassessing their strategies after the first trial had already aired photographs, videos, audio recordings, and forensic evidence. Around 120 witnesses are expected to testify, with the proceedings expected to conclude by July.
Maradona, who scored 34 goals across four World Cups for Argentina and led his country to the 1986 title in Mexico, remains a figure of near-religious reverence in Argentina and beyond. In 2000, FIFA named him one of its two Players of the Century, alongside Brazil’s Pelé. His death in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic drew hundreds of thousands of Argentines into the streets, with then-President Alberto Fernández declaring three days of national mourning.
—