New trial over football great Maradona’s death begins in Argentina

The trial will, once again, seek to determine if Maradona’s medical team was responsible for his death in November 2020.A new trial over the death of Argentinian football legend Diego Maradona will begin on Tuesday, a year after a scandal involving a judge caused the first trial to collapse.Maradona, considered one of the world’s greatest players ever, died in November 2020 at the age of 60 while recovering from brain surgery at a private residence.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4‘Drinking Arsenal tears’: How the Gunners’ stumble sparked a meme frenzylist 2 of 4Iran releases assets of women’s football captain who withdrew asylum plealist 3 of 4Bosnian ball boy hailed as hero after hiding Italian goalkeeper’s noteslist 4 of 4Iran will play World Cup games in the US, not Mexico: President Sheinbaumend of listHe died of heart failure and acute pulmonary edema – a condition where fluid accumulates in the lungs – two weeks after undergoing surgery.The new trial, which will hear from some 120 witnesses, will again seek to determine if Maradona’s medical team was responsible for his death.Seven members of his medical team were charged with negligent homicide in a trial that began on March 11. The defendants have denied the charges of “simple homicide with eventual intent” in Maradona’s treatment. They were facing prison sentences of between eight and 25 years.The medical team was indicted over the conditions of his convalescence, described by prosecutors as grossly negligent, in the northern Buenos Aires suburb of Tigre.But two and a half months into their trial, after hours of sometimes tearful testimony from witnesses, including Maradona’s children, the proceedings came to a halt.The trial was annulled in May 2025 after it emerged that one of the judges overseeing the trial, Julieta Makintach, was involved in a documentary in the corridors of the Buenos Aires court and in her office, which breached judicial rules. She was later impeached.The defence maintains the larger-than-life Maradona, who battled cocaine and alcohol addictions, died of natural causes.