BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — One of Diego Maradona’s daughters criticized neurosurgeon Leopoldo Luque, who was regarded as her father’s main physician at the time of his passing, during a negligence trial on Tuesday.
Gianinna Maradona, appearing in a court in the Buenos Aires locality of San Isidro, provided testimony in the trial involving seven medical professionals accused of negligence related to her father’s death in 2020.
“I heard on television that he claimed he wasn’t his doctor, and it frustrates me greatly that he refuses to accept responsibility,” Gianinna Maradona stated.
Luque and six others are undergoing a new trial because last May the court declared a mistrial after Julieta Makintach, one of the original three judges overseeing the case, resigned following criticism regarding her involvement in a documentary about the matter.
The negligence case alleges that Maradona’s medical team failed to deliver proper care in the weeks leading up to his death at a residence outside Buenos Aires. Maradona passed away at the age of 60 from cardiac arrest while recuperating from surgery for a brain blood clot.
The defendants, who refute all allegations, face charges of culpable homicide, a charge akin to involuntary manslaughter, suggesting that the accused were aware of the risks posed by their purportedly reckless actions and chose to disregard them.
Maradona’s daughter asserted that Luque, psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov, and psychologist Carlos DΓaz were accountable for Maradona’s health and the home confinement where, according to her, the football legend’s condition worsened daily without apparent intervention.
Luque’s defense contends that Gianinna Maradona and her sister Dalma – the former soccer star’s oldest daughters from his relationship with Claudia VillafaΓ±e – were responsible for not acting promptly to care for their father during a prolonged period of declining health.
