New trial over Diego Maradona's death begins in Argentina

An earlier trial was annulled in May 2025 after it emerged that one of the judges was involved in a documentary about the case, potentially breaking ethics rules.

A new trial ​over the death of Argentinian football great Diego Maradona will begin on Tuesday (April 14) with seven members of his medical team charged with negligent homicide nearly a year after ⁠a previous case collapsed after it emerged that one of the judges was involved in a documentary about the case, potentially breaking ethics rules.

An enduring presence in Argentina - from towering ⁠murals to tattoos - Maradona died on November 25, 2020, ‌at 60, after a heart ​attack while he was recuperating from brain surgery to remove a blood clot.

A court in San Isidro, near Buenos Aires, will hear testimony from just under 100 witnesses as it tries Maradona's medical team over alleged negligence in ​the death of the ⁠1986 World Cup-winner.

It is worth remembering that the news of Maradona's death had brought hundreds of thousands of Argentinians onto the streets in mourning in the midst of the Covid pandemic.

His medical team has denied wrongdoing.

The retrial will require both prosecutors and defense lawyers ‌to reassess their strategies after the first trial aired photographs, videos, audio recordings and forensic evidence. Many witnesses, including Maradona's children and his former wife, Claudia Villafane, have ⁠already testified.

Prosecutors ⁠argued in the initial trial that medical professionals broke treatment protocols and that the home where Maradona was recovering from surgery amounted to a "theatre of horror," where necessary care was not provided.

The defense countered that his death was inevitable given his longstanding health problems. Maradona struggled for decades with cocaine and alcohol addiction.

The negligence charges emerged in 2021 after ​prosecutors appointed a medical board to investigate Maradona's death. The panel ​concluded his medical team acted ​in an "inappropriate, deficient and reckless" manner.

If convicted, the defendants could face prison sentences ranging between eight ​and 25 years.

The new trial, which will hear from some 120 witnesses, will again seek to determine if Maradona's medical team is responsible for his death.

The trial is expected to last until July.

(With inputs from agencies)