Maradona: Medical staff to be tried for football legend's death

Image source, Getty Images

The medical personnel are accused of criminalNegligence in the Death of Diego Maradona

A judge ordered a trial after a medical panel found that Maradona's treatment was deficient.

Maradona died of a heart attack at the age of 60.

He had undergone surgery on a brain blood clot.

Argentine prosecutors launched an investigation into the doctors and nurses who cared for him.

Maradona's medical team acted in an "inappropriate, deficient and reckless manner" when examining his death.

According to the ruling, the footballer would have had a better chance of survival with proper treatment.

Maradona's personal doctor, Leopoldo Luque, is one of the people facing charges. They all denied being responsible for his death.

The eight will be tried on a legal definition of homicide, based on the fact that they may have caused someone's death.

Argentina's Penal Code states that the crime can result in a sentence of up to 25 years in prison. The date for the trial is not known.

Image source, Getty Images

By the time of Maradona's death, he was powerless, according to a lawyer for one of his sons.

I said it was a murder when I saw the cause. He said he fought for a long time and here we are.

Two of Maradona's daughters made a complaint. They were concerned about their father's treatment.

In an emotional press conference in November 2020, Dr Luque said he had done everything he could to save the life of a friend.

The doctor shot back at the reporters, asking if they wanted to know what he was responsible for. For loving him, for taking care of him, for extending his life, and for improving it to the end.

He said he had done everything he could.

Diego Maradona is considered to be a great footballer. He was the captain of Argentina when they won the 1986 World Cup and he scored the 'Hand of God' goal against England.

After testing positive for cocaine in 1991, Diego Maradona was banned for 15 months.

The news of his death threw the football world and his home country of Argentina into mourning, with many thousands of people queueing for hours to walk by his coffin.

Not even the most fanatical Maradona supporter would deny the damage that years of addiction had done to his body. There was a feeling in Argentina that the greatest player of all time was taken before he was ready.

The medical panel's findings were damning as the demands for answers grew.

Thousands of fans trooped past Maradona's flag-draped coffin in tears in the presidential palace over three days of national mourning after he died.

They didn't want to say goodbye to him so early. The charges may give them some answers over the death of one of Argentina's greatest sons.