BUENOS AIRES: An Argentine court on Thursday delayed to March 2025 the long-awaited criminal trial of seven of the eight medical professionals accused of negligence in the death of Argentina football legend Diego Maradona.

The trial was set to start next month, after a previous postponement in May, but is now on track to begin on March 11 next year, according to a ruling seen by AFP.

Maradona died in November 2020 at age 60 while recovering from brain surgery for a blood clot, after decades of battling cocaine and alcohol addictions.

He was found dead in bed two weeks after going under the knife, in a rented house in an exclusive Buenos Aires neighbourhood where he was brought after being discharged from the hospital.

He was found to have died of a heart attack.

In 2023, an Argentine appeals court said that neurosurgeon Leopoldo Luque, psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov and six others, including nurses, would stand trial in the matter, rejecting an appeal.

One of the nurses, Gisela Dahiana Madrid, has asked to be tried by jury separately, and her trial will proceed as planned on Oct 2.

Prosecutors have accused the eight medical professionals of providing “reckless” and “deficient” home treatment to Maradona.

A panel of 20 medical experts convened by Argentina’s public prosecutor concluded in 2021 that Maradona “would have had a better chance of survival” with adequate treatment in an appropriate medical facility.

They risk prison sentences ranging from eight to 25 years.

Published in Dawn, September 14th, 2024