Maradona, death trial annulled

San Isidro (Buenos Aires) court judges have decided to annul the trial for the death of Diego Armando Maradona following the scandal over the making of an unauthorised documentary involving one of the three members of the same court.

The decision was announced by Judge Maximiliano Savarino, one of the three members of the court. The judge explained the decision by stating that 'Judge Julieta Makintach', who was involved in the making of an unauthorised documentary about the greatest footballer of all time, 'did not intervene impartially' and that 'her conduct resulted in harm to both the plaintiff and the defence'.

The trial of seven medical professionals accused of negligence during the last days of the Argentine football legend's life opened in March. More than 100 witnesses, including members of Maradona's family and doctors who cared for him over the years, were taking the stand during the trial in the Buenos Aires suburb of San Isidro. The seven defendants, including doctors and nurses, faced between eight and 25 years in prison if convicted.

Maradona, world champion with Argentina in 1986 and Italian champion with Napoli in 1987 and 1990, died on 25 November 2020 at the age of 60 while recovering from brain surgery for a blood clot, after decades of battling cocaine and alcohol addiction. He was found dead in bed, from a heart attack, in a rented house in an exclusive Buenos Aires neighbourhood, where he had been taken after being discharged from hospital two weeks after the operation.

The trial aimed to clarify whether Maradona could have been saved and whether those paid to care for El Pibe De Oro did everything possible to prevent his death. Prosecutors accused medical professionals of providing 'reckless' and 'deficient' home care to Maradona, claiming that he was abandoned to his fate for a 'prolonged and distressing period' before his death. All the defendants denied any responsibility for D10S's death.