<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The trial of seven health care professionals accused of negligence in the death of football great Diego Maradona resumed on Tuesday, nearly a year after the original proceedings collapsed when a presiding judge stepped down after appearing in a documentary about the case.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The negligence case centres on seven medical professionals accused of failing to provide adequate care in the weeks leading up to Maradona's death five years ago at a home outside Buenos Aires. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Maradona, widely regarded as one of the greatest football players of all time, died at age 60 from cardiac arrest while recovering from a procedure to treat a blood clot on his brain.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/us-israel-iran-war-pakistan-proposes-second-round-of-us-iran-talks-as-standoff-deepens/efa648e5-b87f-42bc-ad00-90982eaa62cf"><strong><span>Pakistan proposes second round of US-Iran talks as standoff deepens</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The seven defendants are charged with culpable homicide, a crime similar to involuntary manslaughter that alleges that the accused were aware that their reckless conduct posed a risk and failed to prevent it. If convicted, they face prison sentences ranging from eight to 25 years.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Defence attorneys argue that the captain of Argentina's 1986 World Cup-winning team suffered from multiple serious medical conditions and that no crime was committed.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Maradona had suffered a series of medical problems, some because of an excess of drug and alcohol consumption. He was reportedly near death in 2000 and 2004.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/diego-maradona-death-new-trial-resumes-in-argentina-against-seven-health-care-professionals/8948e466-4455-494b-badb-5bf9874656c5" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Among those on trial are physician Leopoldo Luque, Maradona's personal doctor during the final years of his life, psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov and psychologist Carlos Díaz.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Hearings will take place twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Slightly less than 100 witnesses are expected to testify, including family members, people close to the former player, medical professionals and police officers.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Judges Alberto Gaig, Alberto Ortolani and Pablo Rolón are expected to deliver a verdict in early June.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Fernando Burlando, attorney for Maradona's two eldest daughters and plaintiffs in the case, Dalma and Giannina, told reporters before Tuesday's hearing that he had confidence in the new panel.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We place enormous trust in them," Burlando said. "They are judges with extensive experience and backgrounds".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He said that Maradona's daughters remain "very exhausted".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It is very difficult," Burlando said. "They are Maradona's daughters, and that alone is not easy, and the fact that they cannot even have a moment of relief to know what happened to their father ... although we are convinced of what happened".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The initial trial ended in a mistrial last May after Julieta Makintach, one of the three judges overseeing the proceedings, stepped down following criticism over her participation in a documentary about the case.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Makintach withdrew after prosecutors presented footage showing her featured prominently in the documentary </span><em><span>Divine Justice</span></em><span>, which covered events from the aftermath of Maradona's death, when allegations and suspicions of foul play first emerged, through the start of the trial.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I present my resignation with serenity, without renouncing the right to exercise my defence in the appropriate arenas," Makintach wrote in a letter sent to judicial authorities in June.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Maradona died on November 25, 2020, weeks after undergoing surgery for a subdural hematoma. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He had been admitted earlier that month to a clinic in La Plata, suffering from anemia and dehydration, before being transferred to Clínica Olivos, where he underwent the procedure. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>After being discharged on November 11, he moved to a home outside Buenos Aires, where he remained under medical supervision.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A 20-member medical panel appointed to investigate Maradona's death released a report in 2021, where they accused Maradona's medical team of acting in an "inappropriate, deficient and reckless manner," leaving him in agony and without help for more than 12 hours before his death.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><em><span>NEVER MISS A STORY:</span></em></strong><span> </span><em><span>Get your breaking news and exclusive stories first by following us across all platforms.</span></em></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><ul><li><strong><em><span>Download the 9NEWS App here via</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://apps.apple.com/au/app/9news/id1010533727" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>Apple</span></em></strong></a><span> </span><strong><em><span>and</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nineNewsAlerts.nine.com&amp;hl=en_AU&amp;pli=1" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>Google Play</span></em></strong></a></li><li><strong><em><span>Make 9News your preferred source on Google by</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://9.nine.com.au/8x987w" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>ticking this box here</span></em></strong></a></li><li><strong><em><span>Sign up to</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://login.nine.com.au/edm?client_id=nineatnine" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>our breaking newsletter here</span></em></strong></a></li></ul></div></div>