Buenos Aires, Argentina — A medical examiner’s report into the death of Argentine soccer legend Diego Maradona injected uncertainty Monday into the criminal negligence case brought against eight medical workers involved in his case a month before they are set to stand trial for manslaughter.
A forensic expert conducted the study at the behest of one of the main defendants, Maradona’s neurosurgeon, Leopoldo Luque, in an effort to challenge the 2021 medical examination that held Luque and other doctors responsible for what he described as the star’s death. of football, which would otherwise be avoidable. The defendants have denied any violation or irregularity in the treatment given to Maradona.
Maradona, famous for leading Argentina to victory in the 1986 World Cup and to the final four years later, died of a heart attack in 2020 while recovering from brain surgery.
His death at the age of 60 surprised and devastated a generation of soccer fans and left all of Argentina in mourning. Within days, the country was consumed by questions about his final, bewildering hours, a frenzy of suspicion that intensified as police officers raided his doctors’ homes and offices and Maradona’s family pressured the judiciary to intervene.
Prosecutors ultimately charged the eight medical workers with murder, a serious charge that leaves open the possibility of alleged intent and carries possible prison sentences of eight to 25 years. The trial will begin on June 4.
Medical examiner Pablo Ferrari’s report, released on Monday, concluded that Maradona’s rapid, erratic heartbeat was of natural origin or derived from an “external” factor, possibly a drug such as cocaine that Maradona was known to use. had been abused in the past. Ferrari said he could not make a toxicology report based on Maradona’s insufficient urine sample.
The findings contradict those of a 20-member medical panel appointed to investigate Maradona’s death.
That 2021 report accused Maradona’s medical team of acting in an “inappropriate, deficient and reckless” manner, leaving the footballer in agony and without help for more than 12 hours before his death.
Ferrari’s report questioned the severity of that episode, maintaining that the arrhythmia could not have triggered agony for more than “a few minutes or at most a few hours.”
“This marks a radical turn in the case,” Vadim Mischanchuk, the defense lawyer representing Maradona’s psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov, told local media. “The count goes from a cardiac event that lasts many days to one that lasts minutes.”
Prosecutors criticized the expert’s report for having been rushed together in 72 hours and accused Ferrari of neglecting four years of evidence in favor of “a minimal portion of evidence offered by the defense.”
“There is no twist in the case,” prosecutors said.