Maradona trial on hold amid suspected father-son kidney test mix-up

SAN ISIDRO, Argentina (AFP)—The latest trial over the death of Argentine football legend Diego Maradona was suspended Thursday following claims that kidney tests presented to the court belonged to the player's father. Seven health care workers are accused of criminal negligence over the care Maradona received before his death at age 60 in November 2020, while he was recuperating from surgery. The first trial 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.

It had been drawing near a close when it too became embroiled in controversy. The defense claims that kidney tests produced at the trial belonged to Maradona's father, also called Diego, who died in 2015, not the star of the 1986 World Cup. The court adjourned the hearings until August 27 to allow for a review of the evidence.

Maradona died of heart failure and acute pulmonary edema -- a condition where fluid accumulates in the lungs -- at a rented home in the Buenos Aires suburb of Tigre two weeks after undergoing surgery for a brain clot. His medical team is accused of providing inadequate care in the lead-up to his death, which it denies. On Tuesday, a nephrologist told the court that the condition of the player's kidneys should have been a red flag for his doctors.

He said the larger-than-life footballer, who had a history of cocaine abuse, should have undergone "daily medical checkups, daily nursing care, blood tests and monitoring of his vital signs." The prosecution assured that the alleged text mix-up in no way jeopardized their case. "They (the defense) will not succeed in bringing down the trial," prosecutor Patricio Ferrari said Thursday. A lawyer for one of the accused, nurse Nancy Forlini, denied any plans to seek a mistrial.

"I want this case to end so that my client knows her judicial fate," he said. If confirmed that the kidney test results were those of Maradona's father, it could discredit the medical commission set up to evaluate the circumstances of Maradona's death. The nephrologist who testified Tuesday is part of the commission, which has been highly critical of the care the star received.