Pictures of Maradona’s dead body shake the medical team’s trial sports

Shocking images of Argentine football icon Diego Maradona as he lay lifeless on his bed, his stomach horribly swollen, shook the trial of his medical team on charges of negligence on Thursday.

Maradona, considered one of the greatest football players in history, died in November 2020 at the age of 60, while recovering at home after surgery to remove a blood clot in the brain.

The former Italian Napoli star died due to heart failure and a severe lung crisis, two weeks after undergoing surgery.

Emergency physician Juan Carlos Pinto, who arrived at Maradona’s home in an ambulance, testified Thursday about the condition in which the star was found after his death.

He said, “He was suffering from severe pulmonary edema (a condition in which fluid collects inside the lungs). His face was very swollen, there was edema in his extremities, and his abdomen was spherical like a balloon.”

Shocking shots

The court was shown 17-minute video footage filmed by forensic police of Maradona on his deathbed, wearing football shorts and a black T-shirt lifted to reveal a massively enlarged abdomen.

Pinto explained that the bloating was caused by a large amount of fat and ascites, which is an abnormal accumulation of fluid in the abdominal cavity, often associated with cirrhosis.

Maradona’s daughter, Giannina, who attended the hearing, broke down in tears during Pinto’s testimony, and buried her head in her hands when the video was shown.

The medical team is in the dock

His seven-person medical team, including a neurosurgeon, a psychiatrist and a nurse, are accused of gross negligence and face prison sentences of between eight and 25 years if convicted of “possible intentional homicide.”

Both Pinto and a police officer testified about the absence of medical equipment in the rented house where Maradona was recovering.
“There was no defibrillator, no oxygen, nothing. In the room, there was nothing to suggest that the patient was undergoing home hospitalization,” Pinto said.

The defendants deny their responsibility for Maradona’s death, stressing that the 1986 World Cup star, who suffered from addiction and alcohol, died of natural causes.

The first trial was canceled in May 2025, after it became clear that one of the female judges supervising it was participating in a documentary about the case, which was considered a possible violation of ethics rules.

A second trial, before a new panel of judges, began last week and is expected to last for no less than three months.