Eight doctors and nurses are accused of killing Maradona

Diego Armando Maradona, who was captain of the Argentine national team that won the 1986 World Cup, died in November 2020 at the age of 60. The football legend, who underwent surgery for a subdural hematoma a few weeks before his death, died of cardiac arrest.

Prosecutors now claim that his death was the result of "inaction" of his guardians, according to Sky Sports.

In a 236-page document seen by Reuters, the visiting judge questioned "the activities or omissions of each of the defendants that led to and contributed to the harmful outcome."

It says eight people, including doctors, nurses and a psychologist who cared for Maradona at the time of his death, are charged with "simple murder" - meaning intentional deprivation of life.

The charge is punishable by imprisonment for a term of 8 to 25 years. A medical team tasked with investigating Maradona's death in 2021 said the Argentine's medical team had acted "inappropriately, inadequately and recklessly."

Defendants named in the decision were Maradona's neurosurgeon and personal physician Leopoldo Luque, psychiatrist Agustina Kosachov, psychologist Carlos Diaz, nurses Gisella Madrid and Ricardo Almiron, their supervisor Mariano Perroni, and doctors Pedro Di Forni.

All of them deny responsibility for the footballer's death, and the judge said that the lawyers of some of them asked to close the case.

Mario Bodri, a lawyer for one of Maradona's sons, told Reuters that his father was "in a situation of helplessness" at the time of his death. After Maradona's death, national mourning was declared for three days before he was buried in a cemetery near Buenos Aires.

Maradona has long struggled with his health, including alcohol and cocaine addiction. He was also hospitalized just before his death because he was "psychologically bad."

In 2005, he underwent gastric bypass surgery to lose weight, and in 2007 he was treated for life-threatening hepatitis caused by alcohol.