“They killed me many times, I died many times, but I’m still here, rising again”, they wrote on Diego Armando Maradona’s profile to honor him five years after his death. The lyrics of the song like the cicadaby María Elena Walsh, remind us that for Argentines their popular idol is eternal. The Maradona family believes that the football star’s death – due to a cardiopulmonary arrest weeks after turning 60 – could have been avoided and is calling for justice so he can rest in peace.
The first trial ended up being canceled and one of the judges was dismissed. The second attempt to clarify whether the team of doctors who treated him was responsible for his death will begin on March 17, 2026.
Maradona died in a house on the outskirts of Buenos Aires where he was recovering from an operation in a rented house on the outskirts of Buenos Aires. The news that his heart had stopped beating plunged Argentina into collective grief that shattered restrictions imposed by the covid-19 pandemic.
“We will always miss you”, “we love you”, “Diego eterno”, numerous fan reports published this November 25, along with images and photographs of Pelusa.
Boca Juniors, the club that the star defined as “his place in the world”, honored him with a video in which Xeneizes fans of all ages placed daisies on the left leg of the statue of Diez which is located in one of the corridors of the Bombonera. “Only those who are forgotten die and you, Diego, we remember you every day,” the Argentine Football Federation added in another video.
The tributes crossed borders and had a special echo in Naples. In that city in Southern Italy, the memory of Maradona as a star of Napoli, with whom he achieved two Scudettiin 1987 and 1990, he is still alive.
Maradona’s death sparked a bitter inheritance fight between his five recognized children: Dalma, Giannina, Diego Jr., Jana and Diego Fernando. After years of public clashes, they signed a truce last month, following the joint signing of an agreement with the Swedish-Iranian company Electa Global for the production, distribution and marketing of products under the Maradona brand.
M10 Memorial
The remains of the Mexico 86 champion rest in the Bella Vista cemetery, in the northern suburbs of Buenos Aires. This is a temporary placement, because the children plan to move the body to a commemorative monument that will be erected in front of the Casa Rosada, in the center of the Argentine capital.
The memorial proposal was submitted last year, but its construction is at a standstill. “With everything that happened with the trial, everything else took a backseat. The Memorial is important, but the judicial issue is more immediate. The trial is in the foreground,” his eldest daughter, Dalma Maradona, told the newspaper. The nation a few weeks ago.
Process cancelled
The first trial was canceled amid a huge judicial scandal. After several months of hearings, it was discovered that one of the three members of the court, Judge Julieta Makintach, had authorized secret recordings for a documentary about the trial, Divine Justicewhich saw her as the protagonist. Makintach, daughter of a renowned judge, was removed from office a week ago, disqualified from judicial duties for life. Additionally, he will face criminal prosecution for his actions.
The new trial will be conducted by another court, composed of judges Alberto Ortolani, Pablo Rolón and Alberto Gaig. The judges decided to annul all procedural acts carried out after the incorporation of the “plaintiff” judge Makintach, but confirmed the validity of the evidence and other measures produced previously.
The autopsy specified that the cause of death was “acute pulmonary edema secondary to an exacerbation of chronic heart failure”. Furthermore, it found that the former player suffered from cirrhosis of the liver, a long-standing lung disease, a “monstrous increase in the abdominal cavity” and serious changes to his kidneys and especially his heart, which according to experts weighed “more than double the normal weight”.
Although his health was precarious, the quality of the medical and human care that the former footballer received between 11 and 25 November is fundamental to understanding what responsibilities fall on the health workers in charge.
The main accused in the alleged simple murder of Maradona is the neurosurgeon Leopoldo Luque. Luque took charge of his recovery and, according to his daughters, it was he who convinced them to take him out of the clinic where he had been operated on and to continue his treatment in a private home. The list of defendants is completed by the psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov, the psychologist Carlos Díaz, the nurses Ricardo Almirón and Mariano Perroni, the private insurance coordinator Nancy Forlini and the clinical doctor Pedro Di Spagna.
The house where he was rehabilitated lacked emergency medical equipment and a bathroom that met the patient’s limited mobility needs. Gianinna Maradona, another of his daughters, said that doctors had promised “serious home confinement” and, in practice, it was “a disastrous staging”. The family insists Luque ignored their warnings until it was too late.
