More than five years after the death of Argentina's greatest football idol, the country's justice system made a second attempt to answer the question that divides a nation: did Diego Maradona die of natural causes, or was he abandoned by the very people paid to keep him alive?

⚖️A historic second trial begins

On Tuesday, April 14, 2026, the courts of San Isidro — in the greater Buenos Aires metropolitan area — opened their doors to a trial Argentina had been waiting for since the first proceedings collapsed in scandal nearly a year earlier. Seven healthcare professionals once again took their seats before the Oral Criminal Court No. 7 to answer for the death of Diego Armando Maradona, which occurred on November 25, 2020.

The courtroom was packed. Outside, some fifty people carrying Argentine flags and signs demanded "Justice for D10S" — a play on Maradona's iconic No. 10 jersey and "Dios," the Spanish word for God. Inside, daughters Dalma, Gianinna, and Jana Maradona, together with former partner Verónica Ojeda, watched from the front row as proceedings began in what promises to be the final act of a legal saga without precedent in football history.

"Diego Maradona began to die 12 hours before his actual death. Anyone who had thought to transfer him to a clinic in a car or ambulance during his final week would have saved his life."

— Patricio Ferrari, lead prosecutor

👥The seven defendants: who they are

All seven face charges of homicide with eventual intent (homicidio simple con dolo eventual) — the legal concept that applies when someone pursues a course of action knowing it could result in another person's death. All have declared themselves innocent and remain free pending the verdict.

📋The prosecution: "a diabolical environment"

Lead prosecutor Patricio Ferrari pulled no punches in his opening statement. He described the medical team as "a bunch of amateurs" who committed "all kinds of omissions" and created what he called "cruel" conditions for their patient. According to the prosecution, Maradona was in agony for at least 12 hours with no one making the decision to transfer him to a hospital.

Plaintiff attorney Fernando Burlando, representing daughters Dalma and Gianinna, went further still: "Diego Armando Maradona was murdered." Burlando argued that during Maradona's home convalescence at the San Andrés gated community in Tigre, the icon was "surrounded by strangers" and that between November 11 and 25, 2020, "no one ever listened to Maradona's heart." Attorney Pablo Jurado, representing Maradona's sisters, called it "the chronicle of a death foretold."

📷 The stadium in La Plata, renamed in honour of the football legend. Archive image.

🛡️The defence: "he died of a heart attack"

Defence lawyers categorically rejected the charges. Francisco Oneto, defending neurosurgeon Leopoldo Luque, announced that the trial would prove Maradona died of a heart attack stemming from his pre-existing medical conditions, and not from medical negligence.

Vadim Mischanchuk, lawyer for psychiatrist Cosachov, pointed to Maradona himself: "Diego had a determining role in decisions about his own health." He stressed that there was no "criminal plan" to cause his death. Roberto Rallín, another of Luque's attorneys, went as far as claiming that if Maradona were alive today, he "would ask that they not be convicted."

"If there is one thing that has been definitively ruled out, it is a deliberate criminal plan to kill Maradona."

— Vadim Mischanchuk, defence attorney for Agustina Cosachov

📰Why a second trial? The documentary scandal explained

To understand why this is a second trial, one must go back to May 2025. The first proceedings, which had accumulated more than 20 hearings and 44 witness testimonies over nearly three months, were declared null and void following an unprecedented scandal.

Judge Julieta Makintach, one of the three magistrates presiding over the case, was found to have taken part in an unauthorized documentary about the trial, tentatively titled "Divine Justice" (Justicia Divina). Footage showed the judge walking through courthouse corridors with electronic music playing in the background, before being interviewed at her desk — all filmed using cameras that had been secretly smuggled into the hearings.

The scandal led to Makintach's removal from office following impeachment proceedings in November 2025. Everything that had been done in the first trial was annulled. Zero. Back to square one. Argentina had to start again.

🕐Timeline of the case

• ⚽
  November 2020

  Diego Maradona dies

  On November 25, Maradona dies of cardiac arrest and acute pulmonary oedema at the San Andrés gated community in Tigre, two weeks after brain surgery for a subdural hematoma.
• 🔍
  2020–2023

  Criminal investigation

  Authorities investigate the circumstances of Maradona's death. A medical review board concludes he began dying at least 12 hours before his heart stopped.
• ⚖️
  2024 – May 2025

  First oral trial

  Trial begins with 7 defendants. Over 20 hearings and 44 testimonies are heard, including those of Maradona's daughters.
• 💥
  May – November 2025

  Scandal and annulment

  Judge Makintach is found to have participated in the "Divine Justice" documentary. The trial is annulled. Makintach is removed from the bench in November.
• 🔄
  March – April 2026

  Second oral trial

  The process restarts from scratch under a new three-judge panel: Gaig, Ortolani and Rolón. The first hearing takes place on April 14, 2026.
• 🏛️
  June – July 2026 (estimated)

  Verdict expected

  The tribunal aims to deliver its verdict before the mid-year judicial recess, potentially as early as June 2026.

👨‍⚖️The new judges: under the microscope

The three magistrates now presiding are Alberto Gaig, Alberto Ortolani, and Pablo Rolón, members of the Oral Criminal Court No. 7 of San Isidro. Luque himself had reportedly preferred a jury trial — a request that was denied — though his attorney expressed confidence in the new panel's impartiality.

Hearings are held on Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., at the courthouse on Ituzaingó Street 340 in San Isidro. The witness list has been trimmed to roughly 90–120 names — down from a proposed 170 — and includes medical experts, family members, police officers, and people from Maradona's inner circle.

💔The family: "We want Diego to rest in peace"

Verónica Ojeda, mother of Dieguito Fernando — Maradona's 13-year-old youngest son — told reporters outside the courthouse: "That's what we all need: justice for Diego. We want to live in peace and for Diego to rest in peace." Her partner and family lawyer, Mario Baudry, was more direct: "I hope they are found guilty. And I hope the judges are severe with Luque, Cosachov and Díaz."

Baudry also pointed to the emotional weight of having to relive the ordeal: "For the victims, going through this again is hard, especially while also having to look after a 13-year-old boy." Daughters Dalma, Gianinna, and Jana attended the first hearing and will be called to testify again.

"We want to live in peace and for Diego to rest in peace."

— Verónica Ojeda, Maradona's former partner and mother of Dieguito Fernando

🔬The medical facts of the case

Maradona died of cardiac arrest and acute pulmonary oedema, against a clinical backdrop that included chronic kidney disease, liver cirrhosis, respiratory failure, and long-standing addictions to cocaine and alcohol. He had undergone surgery on November 3, 2020 at the Clínica Olivos for a subdural hematoma — a blood clot pressing on the brain. He was discharged on November 11 and transferred to a house in the San Andrés gated community in Tigre to recover under home medical supervision.

The medical review board convened by the courts determined that Maradona had begun dying at least 12 hours before he was found unresponsive, and that he displayed unmistakable signs of prolonged agony. Prosecutors argue that a timely transfer to a hospital could have saved his life.

Regarding the conditions of the home convalescence, the prosecution stated there was "no medical equipment, not even a bandage" and described the setup as "deficient, marked by omissions." The defence counters that the treatment plan was "agreed upon and appropriate" to Maradona's condition, and that the footballer himself made decisions about his care.

🌐A case that transcends borders

The trial over Maradona's death is not merely a criminal proceeding: it is a mirror through which Argentina examines its healthcare system, its judiciary, and its relationship with its own legends. The football world watches from outside. AFP, Reuters, CNN, Al Jazeera and dozens of international outlets covered the opening of the second trial in real time.

Whatever verdict is ultimately reached will have implications far beyond prison sentences. It will set a precedent on medical accountability in Argentina and define how far negligence can go before it becomes a crime.

The Number 10 spent his whole life asking the world to remember him. Now he waits, from somewhere beyond, for justice to speak its final word.