After two months, 40 witnesses, Maradona trial scrapped

After weeks of hearings and testimony from over 40 witnesses, an Argentine court has nullified the trial of late football legend Diego Maradona’s medical team. This is why.

Argentinian legend Diego Maradona gestures as he takes his seat ahead of the English Premier League football match between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool in 2017. Picture: AFP

After weeks of hearings and testimony from more than 40 witnesses, an Argentine court on Friday (AEST) nullified the trial of late football legend Diego Maradona’s medical team due to a scandal over a TV miniseries.

A new trial will have to start from scratch, with three new judges, in a case long delayed into Maradona’s death in 2020, allegedly due to medical negligence.

Judge Julieta Makintach was forced to step down from the case this week after it emerged she had been involved in a documentary miniseries about the case, potentially breaking a string of ethics rules.

Her colleague, Judge Maximiliano Savarino, annulled the trial, saying Ms Makintach’s behaviour had “caused prejudice” to proceedings that have already heard hours of painful, sometimes tearful, testimony from witnesses including Maradona’s children.

“I am not calm. I am angry. I hate them!” daughter Jana Maradona said outside the court.

Maradona died in November 2020 at the age of 60 while recovering from brain surgery. He was found to have died of heart failure and acute pulmonary oedema.

His seven-person medical team is on trial over the conditions of his home convalescence, described by prosecutors as grossly negligent.

AFP