The daughters of late Argentine football legend Diego Maradona have called for prison sentences of up to 15 years for six members of his medical team over his death in 2020, describing their alleged failure to provide adequate care as murder.
Lawyer Fernando Burlando, representing Dalma and Gianinna Maradona, made the request on Wednesday during closing arguments in the trial of seven medical professionals accused of negligence in the lead-up to the former footballer’s death. The defendants have denied the charges.
“They killed a mythological hero,” Burlando said, accusing the medical team of showing “brutal indifference” to Maradona’s condition.
However, the family remains divided over the punishment the accused should face. Lawyers representing Maradona’s three sisters, Rita, Claudia and Ana, sought prison terms of up to 10 years for five defendants, with their counsel, Pablo Jurado, arguing that medical coordinator Nancy Forlini should receive the harshest sentence.
The legal team representing Maradona’s youngest son, 13-year-old Diego Fernando, had on Tuesday called for his personal physician, Leopoldo Luque, and Forlini to each receive 16 years in prison.
State prosecutors have sought convictions for six of the seven defendants, recommending prison terms ranging from four to 12 years. They asked for the highest sentence to be imposed on Luque.
Maradona died aged 60 on November 25, 2020, from heart failure and acute pulmonary oedema while recovering at a private residence following surgery for a blood clot in his brain.
The seven medical professionals have been on trial since April over the care he received at the residence near Buenos Aires. Prosecutors allege that the treatment was inadequate, while the defence disputes the accusations.
Closing arguments are expected to continue until the end of October, after which the court in San Isidro, a suburb of Buenos Aires, is expected to reserve its judgment for a later date.
