Trial of Diego Maradona’s medical team delayed until March 2025
The trial of eight healthcare workers accused of "homicide by negligence" over the death of football legend Diego Maradona has been postponed from October to March, Argentine media reported on Thursday. A court in San Isidro, near Buenos Aires, granted a request from three of the defendants to delay the trial, which was initially set for June 4 and then rescheduled for October 1. According to the newspaper La Nacion, the trial will now commence on 11 March.
Maradona, who led Argentina to their second World Cup victory in 1986, passed away at the age of 60 in November 2020 due to heart failure, just days after undergoing brain surgery. The defendants, including Maradona's neurosurgeon, psychologist, psychiatrist, and nurses, face potential prison sentences ranging from eight to 25 years if found guilty.
On Thursday, an Argentine court postponed the highly anticipated criminal trial of seven of the eight medical professionals accused of negligence in Maradona's death. Initially set for next month following a prior delay in May, the trial is now scheduled to start on 11 March next year, as per a ruling obtained by AFP.
Maradona died in November 2020, aged 60, while recovering from brain surgery for a blood clot. His death came after decades of struggles with cocaine and alcohol addiction. He was found dead in bed two weeks after the surgery, in a rented house in a wealthy Buenos Aires suburb where he had been moved following his discharge from the hospital. His cause of death was determined to be a heart attack.
In 2023, an Argentine appeals court ruled that neurosurgeon Leopoldo Luque, psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov, and six other medical professionals, including nurses, would stand trial for their involvement, dismissing an appeal. One of the nurses, Gisela Dahiana Madrid, requested a separate trial by jury, which is still scheduled to begin on 2 October. Prosecutors accuse the eight medical staff of providing "reckless" and "inadequate" home care to Maradona.
A panel of 20 medical experts, convened by Argentina's public prosecutor in 2021, concluded that Maradona "would have had a better chance of survival" if he had received proper care in a suitable medical facility. The accused face potential prison sentences ranging from eight to 25 years.