"I am innocent," Diego Maradona's former personal doctor said Thursday, testifying for the first time in the trial into the circumstances of the legendary Argentine's death in 2020.

Neurosurgeon Leopoldo Luque, one of the main defendants, stressed: "I want to say that I am innocent and that I am very sorry for his death."

The trial is being held in San Isidro, near Buenos Aires, Argentina, ten months after the first trial was canceled due to the scandal.

A total of seven health professionals – including doctors, psychiatrists, psychologists and nurses – are accused of “intentional homicide with probable intent”, that is, negligence with the knowledge that it could lead to death. All deny the charges, claiming they are not responsible, while facing sentences of 8 to 25 years in prison.

Maradona died on 25 November 2020, at the age of 60, from cardiorespiratory failure combined with pulmonary edema, while recovering in a private home following surgery for a hematoma in his head.

The 44-year-old Luque testified for the first time in both this and the previous – annulled – trial in 2025, which was interrupted after revelations that one of the judges was secretly participating in the production of a documentary about the case.

In his testimony, which lasted about 30 minutes, he defended – like the other defendants – the position that Maradona's death was natural and, to some extent, inevitable.

He even cited forensic findings that point to chronic heart failure with dilated cardiomyopathy, worsened by lack of treatment and aggravated by toxic substances. “I’m not saying my opinion, I’m saying what the reports say,” he emphasized.

He, who had a close relationship with Maradona in the last years of his life, had presented himself in previous testimonies as one of the key people making decisions about his health. However, he clarified that he was not the one who performed the head surgery, while emphasizing that he was not his treating doctor in 2007, when – as he said – he stopped receiving cardiological treatment.

At the same time, he distanced himself from the choice of hospitalization at home, emphasizing that it was not within his responsibilities as a neurosurgeon: "I had made it clear. I was not a clinical doctor, nor a psychiatrist or psychologist."

For the prosecution, prosecutor Patricio Ferrari argued that Maradona's recovery took place in "inhumane and inappropriate" conditions, accusing the medical team of ignoring repeated warnings and essentially abandoning him.

Luke also rejected the scenario of prolonged agony before death, which has been presented by forensic experts and the prosecution, emphasizing that this is inconsistent with the causes of death.

The trial continues with two sessions a week and is expected to last about three months, keeping alive one of the most sensitive and controversial issues related to the end of the iconic Diego.