The trial of seven medical professionals accused of negligence in the death of Diego Maradona opened in controversial fashion on March 11, with a prosecutor showing the court a photograph of the soccer legend, saying, “This is how Maradona died.” In footage livestreamed from the Supreme Court of Justice of the Province of Buenos Aires, Patricio Ferrari can be seen holding a photo of Maradona’s body, showing him with a bloated stomach. “This is how Maradona died,” he said. “Anyone who tells you, the judges, that they didn’t notice what was happening to Diego is lying; his state was eloquent … No protocol was established for such a reckless intervention in the theater of horror that was the house where Diego Maradona died, where no one did what they were supposed to do.” Maradona died on November 25, 2020, aged 60, at his home in Tigre, from cardiac arrest, reports from that time said. Seven people have been charged with homicide by negligence. (Credit: Buenos Aires Supreme Court via Storyful)

A sad, devastating resolution appears to be coming to fruition in the case of Diego Maradona and his passing. Maradona passed away on November 25, 2020, with the cause of death being relatively unknown until now. It was finally revealed this past week that seven medical professionals have been charged with “simple homicide with eventual intent” in his death. The matter is considered so serious, that the prosecutors’ office in San Isidro, Argentina, have requested to the judge that those individuals indicted not be permitted to leave the country.

This prosecutor’s office opened an investigation into the Argentine legend’s death, because foul play was suspected due to leaked audio of private conversations between doctors and people from Maradona’s entourage. This audio was leaked to various members of the media and have indicated that Maradona was not being properly looked after prior to his death. If these individuals are found guilty, those accused could face between eight to 25 years in prison. Among those being formally accused of foul play is Leopoldo Luque, the neurosurgeon who performed a successful brain operation on Maradona, and psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov, who treated the former Napoli star. Two nurses, a nurse coordinator, a doctor and a psychologist are also among the charged. Among the seven individuals charged, only two have denied any wrongdoing.

Maradona’s family has been incredibly perturbed by the news, and demand justice. They hold Luque among those responsible for his death. The next steps in this horrible case are going to be conducted by a medical board. They’ll review evidence of culpable homicide from Maradona’s medical team. The board revealed in a report that the medical team who attended Maradona prior to his death acted in an “inappropriate, deficient and reckless manner” and left him “to his own devices.” Maradona’s autopsy determined that Maradona died in his sleep of acute pulmonary edema, a buildup of fluid in the lungs, because of congestive heart failure. The toxicology report detected no alcohol or illegal substances, but psychotropic drugs used to treat anxiety and depression were present. The accused will begin to testify from May 31.

In this week’s La Liga fixtures, Deportivo Alavés humbled La Liga giants Real Madrid, while rivals Atletico Madrid and FC Barcelona both clinched victories. 

Deportivo Alavés defeated Real Madrid, 2-0 at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano. Alavés were awarded an early penalty in the game after the ball hit Real Madrid defender Nacho’s arm. Lucas Perez took the penalty and scored the first goal. Before the end of the first half, Alavés’ Joselu scored after a mistake by Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois. 

In the second half, Real Madrid’s Casemiro scored. In the last minute of the game, Real Madrid’s Isco fired a shot that hit the post. Real Madrid has not won any of their three last games in La Liga. Also, during this game, Eden Hazard was subbed off after an injury, which is bad news for the injury-stricken club. 

Meanwhile, Atletico Madrid defeated Valencia CF at the Mestalla after an own goal from Valencia’s Toni Lato in the second half. Atletico Madrid is currently second in the La Liga table.

FC Barcelona also defeated Osasuna, 4-0 at the Camp Nou. In the first half, FC Barcelona’s Martin Braithwaite scored the first goal, followed by a brilliant goal from Antoine Griezmann. In the second half, Philippe Coutinho scored the third goal, followed by a disallowed goal from Ousmane Dembele. Lionel Messi scored his side’s fourth goal and paid tribute to late Argentina soccer legend Diego Maradona by wearing Maradona’s Newell’s Old Boys shirt under his FC Barcelona jersey. 

La Liga giants Real Madrid and FC Barcelona both have not performed as well as expected this season. So far, the La Liga competition is open as teams like Atletico Madrid and Real Sociedad are also competing for the title.

However, the La Liga competition is long and anything can happen.

Diego Maradona, the Argentinian soccer legend, has died at 60, the Argentinian Football Association announced on Twitter. Translated in English the AFA said, “The Argentine Football Association, through its President Claudio Tapia, expresses its deepest sorrow for the death of our legend, Diego Armando Maradona.”

Argentinian President Alberto Fernandez tweeted his sorrows as he said in Spanish, “You took us to the top of the world. You made us immensely happy. You were the greatest of all. Thanks for having existed, Diego. We will miss you for life.”

Maradona was regarded as one of the greatest soccer players to have played. He is up there with fellow soccer great Pele and was widely regarded as the “golden boy” of Argentina.

Maradona had famously captained the 1986 Argentinian national team that won the World Cup that included two famous goals that were scored by Maradona.

Both of the famous goals came in their semifinal matchup against England. The first was the “Hand of God” where Maradona punched the ball into England’s goal to give them the lead. The referees let the goal stand despite the protest by the English players. Maradona made their second goal that became known as the “goal of the century” – Maradona ran 60-yards past four English defenders and faked the goalie to score. That goal showcased his remarkable individual skills and famous ability to weave past defenders to score.

Maradona would later reflect on those goals and say in his biography that that match was for revenge. “It was our way of recovering ‘Las Malvinas,’’ he said, a reference to the Falkland war between Argentina and Great Britain that was fought in 1982.

However, Maradona’s later playing years were marked by scandals and drug use. In 1991, he was given a 15-month ban after failing a doping test. He failed another doping test for stimulants for the 1994 World Cup. In 2000, he was hospitalized and doctors said that his heart was pumping at less than half capacity. Urine and blood sample revealed that there was cocaine in his system. In 2004, he was sent to the emergency for his drug use and went to Cuba for treatment. In 2005, he underwent successful gastric bypass surgery in Colombia.

In 2008, he was announced as the manager of the Argentina national team after the resignation of Alfio Basile. Following Argentina’s disappointing 2010 World Cup results led to Maradona’s tenure as the manager to end. Despite this, he continued to manage different soccer teams and was the recent manager of the team Gimnisia de La Plata.

A few weeks ago, he underwent successful surgery for a blood clot in his brain.

Argentinan President Fernandez announced three days of national mourning for the passing of Maradona.

Argentinian soccer legend Diego Maradona has successfully undergone an operation for bleeding in his skull.

The 60-year-old soccer star had suffered a subdural hematoma, a condition when there is bleeding within between the brain and its outer layer within the skull. It is a serious condition if it isn’t treated because it could lead to death.

A subdural hematoma is caused by head injuries such as falling or being assaulted. It is more common in older adults because they are frailer. However, Maradona said he does not remember what caused the subdural hematoma.

Maradona has reportedly been in good condition following the successful surgery. Dr. Leopoldo Luque, the neurosurgeon who was responsible for the surgery, said that Maradona has no complications. Luque is monitoring Maradona before he decides if he could leave.

Maradona has recently had some serious health issues that have plagued him. On Monday before the operation, he was hospitalized for dehydration, depression and anemia. Prior to that, he was seen having trouble walking and left before the first half of a game that his team played in. Maradona is currently a coach for the team Gimnasia de La Plata.

Maradona was a central piece to Argentina’s 1986 World Cup win. He is regarded as one of the greatest soccer players of all time.

Soccer legend Diego Maradona said in an interview last week that he is a fan of Mexico’s national team after two victories it has secured in the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.

Maradona Says He Supports Mexico In World Cup 2018

“I am a supporter [of Mexico] already because they made this first round great. Mexico have shown that they could be able to beat Sweden, that they have the condition,” the 57-year-old Argentine told Venezuelan TV channel Telesur on his show “De la Mano del 10.”

Mexico stunned fans at the World Cup last week by defeating reigning champions Germany 1-0 in their opening game. El Tri, led by coach Juan Carlos Osorio, then beat South Korea 2-1 on Saturday for its second matchup and leads Group F with six points.

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Maradona went on to explain that with is win over South Korea, Mexico proved that their victory against Germany did not happen because of luck. He said Osorio’s squad played aggressively from the very beginning of the contest.

Mexico next face Sweden on Wednesday at 10am EST, and the game will be a tough challenge, although evidently Maradona thinks El Tri won’t have much trouble winning that game. Sweden fell 2-1 to Germany on Saturday after leading 1-0 at halftime, and beat South Korea 1-0 in its opener.

Mexico have reached the round of 16 for the last six World Cups. Should Sweden defeat the Latin American team on Wednesday and Germany beats South Korea, Mexico, Sweden and Germany would all finish with six points (and South Korea 0) each and tiebreakers/goal differentials would determine which two teams advance to the second round.

Sweden last reached the round of 16 at the 2006 World Cup.

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According to ESPN, Maradona also recently said Mexico did not deserve to host a World Cup, a comment that came after FIFA announced two weeks ago that the country would co-host the 2026 tournament with the United States and Canada.

The Argentine cited Mexico’s long-standing lack of success in the World Cup as a reason for his remarks, and used a similar argument about the U.S., whose federation and media he claimed lacked enough “passion.”

“I don’t like it,” Maradona told Telesur of the choice of hosts for the 2026 tournament. “Mexico doesn’t deserve it. The Mexicans come up against Brazil or Germany… and ‘boom,’ they’re out.”

Maradona also reminded fans of a proposal made in 1994, when the U.S. hosted the World Cup. Then-FIFA president Joao Havelange suggested games be divided into four quarters instead of two halves in order for games to include more television advertisements.

“There’s no passion,” Maradona said. “The Canadians may be good skiers, and the Americans wanted to have four periods of 25 [minutes] for the advertising.”

Diego Maradona seems like the type of person who would ostensibly be allowed to visit many different countries, although the Donald Trump-led United States is not one of them.

Maradona banned from entering US news

The 57-year-old Argentine soccer legend has reportedly been denied entry into the U.S., according to his lawyer.

Maradona — who captained Argentina to a FIFA World Cup victory in 1986 — has been the manager of United Arab Emirates club Al-Fujairah since May 2017. He was giving an interview on Venezuelan television network TeleSur recently and was asked what he thought of President Trump.

“Donald Trump is a chirolita,” Maradona said, using an Argentine slang term that roughly translates to ‘puppet’ or ‘dummy.’ At the time of this interview, Maradona was in the process of applying for a visa to the States to travel to Miami. He wished to go to Florida for a court case involving his ex-wife Claudia Villafane. He has now been denied entry.

Villafane allegedly purchased property in Miami and Maradona claims she used money she stole from him.

This is not the first time Maradona has been banned from the US. During the 1994 World Cup in USA, the player was sent home after testing positive for drug use. Argentina was subsequently eliminated in the first knockout round.

Maradona previously mocked Trump last summer. In July 2017, he told Russian TV network RT: “For me, he’s more of a comic. He’s like a cartoon to me, if we talk about politics. … Every time I see him on TV, I switch the channel.”

Maradona — who played for Italy’s Napoli club as well as Barcelona and Argentina’s Boca Juniors among other clubs — is widely considered one of the greatest soccer players of his generation.

He went to Russia in December to assist with the World Cup final draw at the Kremlin in Moscow.

ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – JANUARY 09: Diego Maradona reacts during a FIFA Team Friendly Football Match at the FIFA headquarters prior to The Best FIFA Football Awards 2016 on January 9, 2017 in Zurich, Switzerland. (Photo by Philipp Schmidli/Getty Images)

Diego Maradona has returned to the soccer spotlight with a new head coaching job: the Argentina legend has been named the new manager of United Arab Emirates second-division club Al-Fujairah.

Argentina’s Diego Maradona Named Manager of UAE’s Al-Fujairah

This marks the 56-year-old former Boca Juniors, Barcelona and Napoli attacking midfielder’s first coaching gig since he was fired as manager of UAE team Al Wasl in July 2012 after just one season.

Maradona posted a photo of himself holding Al-Fujairah’s No. 10 jersey (the number he used to wear with Argentina) on Facebook with the following caption in English, Spanish and Italian:

“I want to let you all know that I am the new manager of Al-Fujairah SC who hail from the UAE’s second division,” the Argentine wrote while presenting the red-and-white jersey. “These are my new colors!”

Maradona helped lead Argentina to win the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico, and reached the final again four years later. He became famous for comments like the “Hand of God,” referring to a handball he was suspected of committing in the penalty box to score a goal in a game against England in the 1986 World Cup.

The legend twice won the Italian Serie A with Napoli, and also played for Sevilla and Argentina Juniors. He began his coaching career with short stints at Argentine teams Mandiyu de Corrientes and Racing Club in the mid-90s, but did not become manager of an international team until he became head coach of Argentina in 2008, a post he held until 2010.

Under Maradona, Argentina played in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa but were eliminated by Germany, who defeated the Albiceleste 4-0 in the quarter-finals.

ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – JANUARY 09: Diego Maradona reacts during a FIFA Team Friendly Football Match at the FIFA headquarters prior to The Best FIFA Football Awards 2016 on January 9, 2017 in Zurich, Switzerland. (Photo by Philipp Schmidli/Getty Images)