{"id":1131660,"date":"2022-06-23T08:17:37","date_gmt":"2022-06-23T08:17:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/06\/23\/medical-staff-to-face-trial-football-legends-death\/"},"modified":"2022-06-23T08:17:37","modified_gmt":"2022-06-23T08:17:37","slug":"medical-staff-to-face-trial-football-legends-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/06\/23\/medical-staff-to-face-trial-football-legends-death\/","title":{"rendered":"Medical staff to face trial football legend’s death"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Maradona died of a heart attack at his Buenos Aires home, aged 60. Credit: Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Eight medical personnel are to stand trial accused of criminal negligence in the death of legendary Argentinian footballer Diego Maradona.<\/p>\n

A judge has ordered a culpable homicide trial after a medical panel found Maradona\u2019s treatment was rife with \u201cdeficiencies and irregularities\u201d.<\/p>\n

Maradona died in November 2020 of a heart attack in Buenos Aires, aged 60.<\/p>\n

He had been recovering at home from surgery on a brain blood clot earlier that month.<\/p>\n

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A few days after his death Argentine prosecutors launched an investigation into the doctors and nurses involved in his care.<\/p>\n

Last year, the panel of 20 experts appointed to examine his death found Maradona\u2019s medical team acted in an \u201cinappropriate, deficient and reckless manner\u201d.<\/p>\n

It also concluded that the footballer \u201cwould have had a better chance of survival\u201d with adequate treatment in an appropriate medical facility, according to the court ruling.<\/p>\n

Among those facing charges are Maradona\u2019s neurosurgeon and personal doctor, Leopoldo Luque, a psychiatrist and psychologist, two doctors, two nurses and their boss. They have all denied responsibility for his death.<\/p>\n

All eight will be tried on a legal definition of homicide based on negligence committed in the knowledge that it may lead to a person\u2019s death.<\/p>\n

The crime can hold a sentence of eight to 25 years in prison, according to Argentina\u2019s penal code. A date for the trial is yet to be set.<\/p>\n

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Maradona was one of the greatest football players of all time. Credit: Getty Images<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mario Baudry, a lawyer for one of Maradona\u2019s sons, told Reuters that the football legend was \u201cin a situation of helplessness\u201d by the time of his death.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs soon as I saw the cause, I said it was homicide. I fought for a long time and here we are, with this stage completed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The legal proceedings were prompted by a complaint filed by two of Maradona\u2019s daughters. They raised concerns about their father\u2019s treatment after the brain operation.<\/p>\n

In an emotional press conference in November 2020, Dr Luque cried, saying he had done all he could to save the life of a friend.<\/p>\n

At one point, the doctor shot back at reporters: \u201cYou want to know what I am responsible for? For having loved him, for having taken care of him, for having extended his life, for having improved it to the end.\u201d<\/p>\n

The doctor said he had done \u201ceverything he could, up to the impossible\u201d.<\/p>\n

Diego Maradona is largely considered to be one of the greatest footballers to ever play the game. He was captain when Argentina won the 1986 World Cup, scoring the famous \u2018Hand of God\u2019 goal against England in the quarter-finals.<\/p>\n

During the second half of his career, Maradona struggled with cocaine addiction and was banned for 15 months after testing positive for the drug in 1991.<\/p>\n

The news of his death threw the football world \u2013 and his home country of Argentina \u2013 into deep mourning,\u00a0with many thousands of people queuing for hours\u00a0to walk by his coffin at the presidential palace in Buenos Aires.<\/p>\n

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