Doctors testify Maradona should not have undergone surgery before his death

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) - Doctors testified Thursday that Diego Maradona should not have undergone surgery two weeks before his death because it was not a serious matter.

After checking a CT scan of Maradona's brain presented during the hearing, neurologist Martín Cesarini said: “It was not an emergency for surgery."

Neurosurgeon Leopoldo Luque is one of seven medical professionals accused of negligence in the death of the soccer great.

Neurologist Guillermo Pablo Burry also said at the trial that he told Luque surgery was not necessary and Maradona’s clinical progress should just have been monitored.

Cesarini and Burry examined Maradona at a clinic in Buenos Aires, where he had been transferred early in November 2020 for a medical check-up.

Flavio Tunessi, another doctor from the same facility, said in testimony: “Luque told me that for him it was a surgical procedure and he decided to transfer him."

It is alleged Luque did not listen to any of his colleagues and moved Maradona to another clinic, where the former Argentina captain underwent surgery for a hematoma on November 3 of that year.

Maradona, who led Argentina to the World Cup title in 1986, died on Nov. 25, 2020 while undergoing home hospitalization on the outskirts of Buenos Aires. He was 60.

According to the prosecution, the seven professionals charged in the negligence case - a neurosurgeon, a psychiatrist, a psychologist, doctors and nurses - failed to provide adequate care, which may have led to his death.