A retrial into the death of Diego Maradona, the iconic Argentine football player, is set to begin in San Isidro, Buenos Aires, after the original trial collapsed in May 2025. According to the BBC. The retrial will involve seven individuals accused of failing to provide adequate medical care, which led to Maradona’s death from heart failure on 25 November 2020.

Background of the Case

The first trial collapsed after one of the three judges allegedly allowed unauthorized filming in court for a documentary, according to the BBC, and Maradona’s medical team is accused of failing to administer proper care, and they face charges of homicide with possible intent. If convicted, the accused could face between eight and 25 years in prison.

Maradona had been recovering at his home in Tigre, Buenos Aires province, after successful surgery on a brain blood clot earlier that month. Investigators classified the case as culpable homicide, a crime similar to involuntary manslaughter, because they said the accused were aware of the seriousness of Maradona’s health condition but did not take the necessary measures to save him.

Medical Findings

The heart failure caused Maradona to suffer acute pulmonary oedema, when fluid builds up in the lungs, the preliminary autopsy confirmed, according to the BBC. A panel of medical experts, asked by prosecutors to investigate Maradona’s medical team, said the treatment he received at his home was ‘deficient and reckless.’

The experts concluded that the footballer ‘would have had a better chance of survival’ with adequate treatment in an appropriate medical facility. The seven people on trial include his main medical adviser, Leopoldo Luque, and his psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov. His former nurse, Dahiana Gisela Madrid, will stand in a separate trial.

Testimonies and Duration of Trial

Around 100 people are set to testify in front of a new set of judges at a court in San Isidro, including Maradona’s daughters. The trial is expected to last until July, according to the BBC. When the footballer died on 25 November 2020, then President of Argentina Alberto Fernandez declared three days of national mourning.

‘Thank you for having existed, Diego. We’re going to miss you all our lives,’ he said. Maradona started his career with Argentinos Juniors. He went on to represent Argentina in four World Cups, scoring 34 goals, including the infamous ‘Hand of God’ goal against England in 1986.

During the second half of his career, he struggled with cocaine addiction. He was banned for 15 months after testing positive for the drug in 1991. He retired from professional football in 1997, on his 37th birthday, during his second stint at Argentine giants Boca Juniors.

Maradona was appointed head coach of the national team in 2008 and left after the 2010 World Cup, where his side were beaten by Germany in the quarter-finals. He subsequently managed teams in the United Arab Emirates and Mexico and was in charge of Argentinian club Gimnasia y Esgrima at the time of his death.