Buenos Aires, Argentina — The coroner’s report into the death of Argentine soccer legend Diego Maradona added uncertainty to the criminal negligence case brought against eight health workers involved in his case a month before he was set to stand trial on murder charges Monday.
Forensic experts carried out the study at the request of one of the main defendants, Maradona’s neurosurgeon Leopoldo Luque. It is part of an effort to challenge a 2021 medical examination that will hold Luque and other doctors accountable for the soccer star’s avoidable death. The defendants have denied any wrongdoing or wrongdoing in their treatment of Maradona.
Maradona, famous for leading Argentina to victory in the 1986 World Cup and returning to the final four years later, died of a heart attack in 2020 while recovering from brain surgery.
His death, aged 60, shocked a generation of football fans and sent the whole of Argentina into mourning. Within days, the country was gripped by questions about his final, embarrassing hours, and the frenzy of suspicion intensified as police raided the doctor’s home and offices and Maradona’s family pressured the judiciary to intervene.
Prosecutors ultimately charged eight medical staff with murder. This is a serious charge that leaves open the possibility of presumed intent and carries a possible sentence of eight to 25 years in prison. The trial is scheduled to begin June 4.
Coroner Pablo Ferrari’s report, released on Monday, concluded that Maradona’s fast and irregular heartbeat was either natural or resulted from “external” factors, such as drugs that Maradona was known to have abused in the past, such as cocaine. Ferrari said a toxicology report could not be prepared due to a lack of a urine sample from Maradona.
The findings contradict those of the 20-member medical panel appointed to investigate Maradona’s death.
The 2021 report accused Maradona’s medical team of acting in an “inadequate, inadequate and reckless manner”, leaving the footballer in pain without assistance for more than 12 hours before his death.
Ferrari’s report disputed the seriousness of the incident, claiming the arrhythmia could not have caused pain for more than “a few minutes or at most hours”.
Vadim Mischanchuk, the lawyer for Maradona’s psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov, told local media: “This case marks a radical turn in events.” “The record went from a cardiac event lasting several days to an event lasting several minutes.”
Prosecutors criticized the expert’s report for being hastily compiled in just 72 hours and accused Ferrari of ignoring four years of evidence in favor of “the minimal evidence presented by the defense.”
The prosecution said, “There is nothing unusual about the case.”
