BUENOS AIRES — Seven medical professionals who cared for Argentine soccer legend Diego Maradona during his final days go on trial Tuesday accused of criminal negligence over his death.

Maradona died aged 60 on Nov 25, 2020, while recovering from brain surgery for a blood clot, after decades of battling cocaine and alcohol addictions.

Each defendant faces between eight and 25 years in prison if convicted of "homicide with possible intent" — allegedly for pursuing a course of action, despite knowing it could lead to the soccer star's death.

The passing of Maradona, who was the star of the 1986 World Cup, plunged Argentina into mourning amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Tens of thousands of people queued to bid farewell to the former Boca Juniors and Napoli striker as his body lay in state in the presidential palace.

More than 100 witnesses, including members of Maradona's family and doctors who tended to him over the years, are expected to take the stand in the long-delayed trial, taking place in the Buenos Aires suburb of San Isidro. The hearings are expected to run until July.

Warning signs

Maradona was found dead in bed two weeks after going under the knife, in a rented house in an exclusive Buenos Aires neighborhood, where he was taken after being discharged from hospital.

He was found to have died of a heart attack.

The night nurse said he had seen "warning signs", but had received orders "not to wake" Maradona.

The defendants in the case are a neurosurgeon, a psychiatrist, a psychologist, a medical coordinator, a nursing coordinator, a doctor and the night nurse.

The day nurse, who found Maradona dead, asked to be tried by jury separately.

Prosecutors have accused the medical team of pushing for Maradona to receive home care, which proved "reckless" and "totally deficient".

They allege the soccer star was abandoned to his fate for a "prolonged, agonizing period" before his death.

A panel of 20 medical experts, convened by Argentina's public prosecutor, concluded in 2021 that Maradona "would have had a better chance of survival" with adequate treatment in an appropriate medical facility.

The residence where he was staying, notably, had no defibrillator.

Maradona's family claims that leaked audio and text messages show that the star's health was in imminent danger, said Mario Baudry, a lawyer for Maradona's son Dieguito.

He said the messages showed the medical team's strategy was to try and ensure that Maradona's daughters did not intervene "because if they did, they (the medical staff) would lose their money".

'Justice for Diego'

The accused all deny responsibility for the star's death.

Vadim Mischanchuk, lawyer for psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov, said he was "very optimistic" of an acquittal, arguing his client was in charge of Maradona's mental, not physical, health.

In the La Paternal neighborhood of Buenos Aires, where the player, nicknamed "El Pibe de Oro" (The Golden Boy), revealed his prodigious talent for Argentinos Juniors in the 1970s, graffiti has been daubed on walls ahead of the trial, urging: "Justice for Diego!"

AFP