ARGENTINE PROSECUTORS HAVE sought prison sentences of up to 12 years for members of football icon Diego Maradona’s medical team, arguing his caregivers were “chaotic” in the lead-up to his death.

Closing arguments were heard in the trial of seven medical professionals over Maradona’s death on 25 November 2020 while convalescing after surgery for a brain clot.

The star of the 1986 World Cup died of heart failure and acute pulmonary oedema – a condition where fluid accumulates in the lungs – at a rented home in the Buenos Aires suburb of Tigre two weeks after going under the knife.

The larger-than-life star, who had a history of substance abuse, was 60 at the time of his death.

His medical team, including his chief doctor, psychiatrist, psychologist and nurses, are accused of providing grossly inadequate care in the lead-up to his death. They deny the charges.

In his closing arguments, prosecutor Patricio Ferrai said the defendants’ “chaotic organisation” left the ailing patient “in a helpless situation, abandoning him to his fate”.

He accused them of having “breached their duties, performed actions contrary to the art of healing” and having “omitted all the acts they were required to perform.”

The defendants are charged with “dolo eventual” – a legal term meaning that a person is aware that their actions could cause harm but persisted nonetheless.

They face up to 25 years in prison if convicted.

The health workers have argued that Maradona’s death couldn’t have been foreseen and that they did their jobs. Each defendant has also downplayed their own individual responsibility for his care.

No defibrillator

The case has revolved around whether the doctors’ decision to allow Maradona convalesce in a private home, instead of in a hospital, was negligent.

The prosecution has also pointed to the near-total absence of medical equipment, such as a hospital bed, defibrillator or quickly available ambulance as evidence of what they presented as the defendants’ dereliction of duty.

Several medical experts testified that Maradona’s carers failed to react to key warning signs – he was suffering from oedema, tachycardia and had difficulty breathing — in the lead-up to his death.

“Diego Armando Maradona’s death clearly did not come out of nowhere: the signs of this fatal outcome began to appear long beforehand,” assistant prosecutor Cosme Iribarren summarised on Thursday.

The prosecution again showed the court shock images of the former footballer lying dead in bed, his stomach grotesquely swollen.

Maradona’s three daughters, who were present in court on Thursday for the start of the summation, covered their faces to avoid seeing the images.

The summation is expected to last around two weeks.

The verdict is expected at a later date.

The first trial over Maradona’s death was dramatically annulled last year after two-and-a-half months of hearings, following revelations that one of the judges took part in a clandestine documentary about the case.