A new judicial process into the death of Argentine football icon Diego Maradona begins on Tuesday, restarting legal proceedings a year after the initial case collapsed due to a judicial scandal.
Maradona, widely regarded as one of football’s greatest players, died in November 2020 at the age of 60 while recovering at a private residence following brain surgery.
He suffered heart failure and acute pulmonary edema, a condition in which fluid builds up in the lungs, about two weeks after the operation.
Seven members of his medical team were charged over the circumstances of his home care in Tigre, a suburb in northern Buenos Aires, with prosecutors alleging gross negligence.
However, the original trial, which had already heard emotional testimony from witnesses including Maradona’s children, was halted about two and a half months in.
It was later annulled in May 2025 after it emerged that one of the judges involved had participated in a documentary related to the case, raising concerns over ethical breaches.
The judge, Julieta Makintach, was subsequently impeached.
The fresh trial will now hear testimony from around 120 witnesses and will again examine whether Maradona’s caregivers were criminally responsible for his death.
The accused — doctors, psychologists and nurses, are facing charges of homicide with possible intent, meaning they are alleged to have continued treatment knowing it could be fatal. If convicted, they could face prison sentences ranging from eight to 25 years.
The defense argues that Maradona, who struggled for years with cocaine and alcohol addiction, died of natural causes rather than medical misconduct.
“If there’s one thing that has been ruled out, it’s a malicious criminal plan to kill Maradona. Anyone who continues to maintain that is cruel to the family and the accused,” Vadim Mischanchuk, lawyer for psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov, told Radio Con Vos on Sunday.
His death in 2020 sparked massive public grief across Argentina, with hundreds of thousands of people taking to the streets in mourning during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The retrial is expected to run until July.
