Maradona death trial descends into defendant blame game

The trial seeking to determine responsibility for the death of Diego Maradona descended into a fresh dispute between the defendants on Tuesday, with the medical professionals denying blame and pointing the finger at one another over the football idol's care.

The court in San Isidro, north of Buenos Aires, has been examining since April whether the conditions of Maradona's home hospitalisation were adequate. He was recovering from brain surgery when he died of cardiac arrest and pulmonary oedema in 2020, aged 60.

"They are accusing me of omissions for which I was never asked. How can I omit something I was never asked to do?" questioned Nancy Forlini, the medical coordinator of Maradona's home care and one of seven medical professionals facing charges.

Accused of failing to provide the necessary supplies and staff, Forlini pointed to psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov and neurosurgeon Leopoldo Luque, who are also defendants in the case.

"She told me that all the decisions went through them ... they had all the power," Forlini said.

The medical professionals are accused of homicide with dolo eventual, a legal category that applies when defendants are alleged to have been aware that their actions or omissions could lead to the death of the star.

Luque, who has been portrayed as Maradona's treating doctor, denied having overseen the home hospitalisation and pointed to Forlini.

"She constantly refers to 'the treating doctors', but her communication is with Cosachov; she has no communication with me," Luque said in his defence. "I was following up on the neurosurgery ... I wasn't the treating doctor," he stressed.

Luque said his involvement was limited to monitoring Maradona's recovery from neurosurgery following a subdural haematoma, for which he had undergone surgery on November 3, 2020, 22 days before his death. He said clinical monitoring was the responsibility of Pedro Di Spagna, who is also facing charges.

Di Spagna, in turn, denied being the doctor in charge of Maradona's clinical care and said he had not even been able to access the patient during his final two attempts to examine him.

"I was frustrated that I couldn't do my job, but I was told to leave," Di Spagna recalled of a visit on November 18 to the house in Tigre, outside Buenos Aires, where the former footballer was recovering.

Psychiatrist Cosachov acknowledged that there had been problems from the time Maradona left Clínica Olivos, where he had undergone surgery.

"I always asked for a clinician. On the 12th or 13th [of November], there was already a certain misunderstanding" with the health insurer, she said, pointing the finger at Forlini.

All the defendants maintain their innocence in a case that carries a possible prison sentence of up to 25 years.

Closing arguments will begin on October 8 and continue over six hearings until October 22.