New trial over Maradona’s death resumes in Argentina against seven health care professionals The trial of seven health care professionals accused of negligence in the death of football great Diego Maradona resumed on Tuesday, nearly a year after the original proceedings collapsed when a presiding judge stepped down after appearing in a documentary about the case.
The negligence case centres on seven medical professionals accused of failing to provide adequate care in the weeks leading up to Maradona’s death five years ago at a home outside Buenos Aires. Maradona, widely regarded as one of the greatest football players of all time, died at age 60 from cardiac arrest while recovering from a procedure to treat a blood clot on his brain.
The seven defendants are charged with culpable homicide, a crime similar to involuntary manslaughter, which alleges that the accused were aware that their reckless conduct posed a risk and failed to prevent it. If convicted, they face prison sentences ranging from eight to 25 years.
Defence attorneys argue that the captain of Argentina’s 1986 World Cup-winning team suffered from multiple serious medical conditions and that no crime was committed.
Maradona had suffered a series of medical problems, some because of an excess of drug and alcohol consumption. He was reportedly near death in 2000 and 2004.
Among those on trial are physician Leopoldo Luque, Maradona’s personal doctor during the final years of his life, psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov and psychologist Carlos Diaz.
ALSO READ | Home where Diego Maradona grew up now feeds the hungry in Argentina
Hearings will take place twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Slightly less than 100 witnesses are expected to testify, including family members, people close to the former player, medical professionals and police officers.
Judges Alberto Gaig, Alberto Ortolani and Pablo Rolón are expected to deliver a verdict in early June.
The initial trial ended in a mistrial last May after Julieta Makintach, one of the three judges overseeing the proceedings, stepped down following criticism over her participation in a documentary about the case.
Makintach withdrew after prosecutors presented footage showing her featured prominently in the documentary “Divine Justice,” which covered events from the aftermath of Maradona’s death, when allegations and suspicions of foul play first emerged, through the start of the trial.
“I present my resignation with serenity, without renouncing the right to exercise my defense in the appropriate arenas,” Makintach wrote in a letter sent to judicial authorities in June.
Maradona died on November 25, 2020, weeks after undergoing surgery for a subdural hematoma. He had been admitted earlier that month to a clinic in La Plata, suffering from anaemia and dehydration, before being transferred to Clínica Olivos, where he underwent the procedure. After being discharged on Nov. 11, he moved to a home outside Buenos Aires, where he remained under medical supervision.
A 20-member medical panel appointed to investigate Maradona’s death released a report in 2021, where they accused Maradona’s medical team of acting in an “inappropriate, deficient and reckless manner,” leaving him in agony and without help for more than 12 hours before his death.
Published on Apr 14, 2026
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The trial of seven health care professionals accused of negligence in the death of football great Diego Maradona resumed on Tuesday, nearly a year after the original proceedings collapsed when a presiding judge stepped down after appearing in a documentary about the case.
The negligence case centres on seven medical professionals accused of failing to provide adequate care in the weeks leading up to Maradona’s death five years ago at a home outside Buenos Aires. Maradona, widely regarded as one of the greatest football players of all time, died at age 60 from cardiac arrest while recovering from a procedure to treat a blood clot on his brain.
The seven defendants are charged with culpable homicide, a crime similar to involuntary manslaughter, which alleges that the accused were aware that their reckless conduct posed a risk and failed to prevent it. If convicted, they face prison sentences ranging from eight to 25 years.
Defence attorneys argue that the captain of Argentina’s 1986 World Cup-winning team suffered from multiple serious medical conditions and that no crime was committed.
Maradona had suffered a series of medical problems, some because of an excess of drug and alcohol consumption. He was reportedly near death in 2000 and 2004.
Among those on trial are physician Leopoldo Luque, Maradona’s personal doctor during the final years of his life, psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov and psychologist Carlos Diaz.
ALSO READ | Home where Diego Maradona grew up now feeds the hungry in Argentina
Hearings will take place twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Slightly less than 100 witnesses are expected to testify, including family members, people close to the former player, medical professionals and police officers.
Judges Alberto Gaig, Alberto Ortolani and Pablo Rolón are expected to deliver a verdict in early June.
The initial trial ended in a mistrial last May after Julieta Makintach, one of the three judges overseeing the proceedings, stepped down following criticism over her participation in a documentary about the case.
Makintach withdrew after prosecutors presented footage showing her featured prominently in the documentary “Divine Justice,” which covered events from the aftermath of Maradona’s death, when allegations and suspicions of foul play first emerged, through the start of the trial.
“I present my resignation with serenity, without renouncing the right to exercise my defense in the appropriate arenas,” Makintach wrote in a letter sent to judicial authorities in June.
Maradona died on November 25, 2020, weeks after undergoing surgery for a subdural hematoma. He had been admitted earlier that month to a clinic in La Plata, suffering from anaemia and dehydration, before being transferred to Clínica Olivos, where he underwent the procedure. After being discharged on Nov. 11, he moved to a home outside Buenos Aires, where he remained under medical supervision.
A 20-member medical panel appointed to investigate Maradona’s death released a report in 2021, where they accused Maradona’s medical team of acting in an “inappropriate, deficient and reckless manner,” leaving him in agony and without help for more than 12 hours before his death.
Published on Apr 14, 2026
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