Seven members of the medical team that treated Diego Maradona before his death will go on trial for homicide, starting on Tuesday in Buenos Aires.

The case revolves around allegations that their negligence contributed to the World Cup winner’s death aged 60 in 2020. 

Maradona suffered a fatal heart attack at home in November that year, just two weeks after he was released from hospital following surgery for a bleed on his brain. 

Maradona had struggled with drug addiction, obesity and alcoholism for decades, and reportedly came close to death in 2000 and 2004. 

But prosecutors suspect that – were it not for the negligence of his doctors – his death could have been avoided.

Members of Diego Maradona’s medical team are starting on trial for culpable homicide 

His family believe a medical ‘mafia’ were responsible for his death, and claim that they still live in fear  

Maradona struggled with drug addiction, obesity, and alcoholism for decades before his death

Seven of the eight medical professionals who have been charged in the case, including Maradona’s brain surgeon, psychiatrist and nurses, are now standing trial for culpable homicide, a crime which roughly equates to involuntary manslaughter.

They deny wrongdoing but could face up to 25 years in prison.

Dalma Maradona, the legend’s eldest daughter, shared a video containing audio she claims proves serious irregularities in her father’s care. And she revealed that her mother is in fear of the ‘mafia’ who ‘control everything’. 

‘My mother is worried because she is afraid,’ she said on the Angel Responde show on Bondi Live. 

‘Afraid of the mafia, of those who control everything, have money and power. But I don’t care. I know who I am up against, but I cannot remain silent. We need people to know the truth. My mother tells me all the time “shut up, don’t say anything, I’m scared,” but I can’t. I owe it to him.’

Dalma was previously reported to have alleged that a ‘mafia of assassins’ caused her father’s death. She claims there are recordings that exist that prove a lack of medical attention with conversations about cover-ups and professional negligence, Argentine outlet Diario Registrado report.

Maradona won the World Cup with Argentina in 1986, having knocked England out in the quarter final with the infamous ‘Hand of God’ goal and another – later voted ‘Goal of the Century.’

Renowned for his breathtaking playing ability, Maradona’s wild life off the pitch was equally notorious; running around with the mafia in Naples, serial womanising and a lethal dependency on alcohol and cocaine.

Maradona (right) shakes hands with his doctor Leopoldo Luque, who has been charged, in Olivos, Buenos Aires province, Argentina, on November 11, 2020

The trial starts on Tuesday in Buenos Aires and revolves around accusations of negligence 

Maradona, who won the 1986 World Cup, is still vital in Argentina’s national consciousness

Argentina went into three days of mourning in which his body was lying in state at the Casa Rosada, the presidential palace in Buenos Aires.

Maradon’s neurologist, Leopoldo Luque, served as Maradona’s personal doctor for years and performed the surgery that removed his brain blood clot on Nov. 3, 2020.

Luque oversaw Maradona’s hospital-to-home transition after the surgery. The swift discharge raised questions at the time, with some experts suggesting that Maradona should have stayed longer in the hospital after his operation.

Psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov had prescribed Maradona’s medications. There was no alcohol or illegal drugs detected in the toxicology test performed after Maradona’s death. But the report said Maradona had psychotropic drugs for anxiety and depression in his system when he died.

The five other defendants this week include: Carlos Diaz, an addiction specialist who had overseen Maradona’s treatment for alcohol dependency; Nancy Forlini, a doctor who had helped manage Maradona’s home care; Mariano Perroni, a nursing coordinator; Ricardo Almiron, another nurse who tended to the former athlete and Pedro Pablo Di Spagna, a clinical physician.

A third nurse, Gisela Dahiana Madrid, has asked to be tried separately by jury at a later date.

The prosecutor’s office assembled a medical board made up of a dozen experts – including forensic doctors, cardiologists, psychiatrists and toxicologists – to see if there was evidence of Maradona’s medics committing culpable homicide.

In an explosive 2021 report, the board accused the former football star’s medical team of acting in an ‘inappropriate, deficient and reckless manner.’

The hearse carrying the casket of Maradona drives to the cemetery in Buenos Aires, Argentina, November 26, 2020

Thousands of people mourned as Maradona’s hearse travelled to Bella Vista cemetery

A fan touched the hearse carrying the body of Maradona as the nation wept for a legend 

‘The home confinement did not comply with norms and protocols,’ the report said.

The experts also questioned why Maradona had been released so soon from the hospital after his operation when he was unable to care for himself and had limited or no access to critical medical devices, like an oxygen tube and a defibrillator, which administers an electric shock to restore heart rhythm.

Last year, a medical report by medical examiner Pablo Ferrari claimed Maradona’s rapid and erratic heartbeat was either of natural origin or stemmed from an ‘external’ factor, possibly a drug like cocaine.

Maradona had battled alcohol and drug addiction for many years and had undergone brain surgery in November 2020. 

Ferrari said he couldn’t do a toxicology report based on Maradona’s insufficient urine sample.

Maradona’s psychiatrist Augustina Cosachov is one of the eight people set to face trial over the star’s death.

His lawyer told The Sun: ‘There could have been two causes: one natural and the other, a product of the ingestion of a toxic substance.’

The prosecutor’s office criticised the expert’s report as hastily cobbled together in 72 hours and accused Ferrari of neglecting four years of evidence in favour of ‘a minimal slice of evidence offered by the defence.’

‘There is no twist in the case,’ prosecutors said.

Maradona’s cause of death was officially listed as ‘acute pulmonary edema secondary to exacerbated chronic heart failure’.