Maradona's doctor has home and clinic searched in manslaughter probe
29 November 2020, 19:50
One of the doctors of Diego Maradona has had his home and clinic searched as part of a manslaughter investigation into the 60-year-old football legend's death.
Argentine police seized medical records from the house and office of Leopoldo Luque to establish whether there was negligence involved in Maradona's treatment following brain surgery.
The neurologist, who was part of a medical team looking after the ex-footballer, said he had given investigators access to all available documents as well as computers, hard drives and mobile phones.
Fighting through tears, he defended his treatment of the troubled Argentinian, who died of a heart attack on Wednesday following a brain operation on 3 November.
"I know what I did. I know how I did it... I am absolutely sure that I did the best for Diego, the best I could," he said.
Dr Luque told reporters he was not Maradona's chief physician and that he is co-operating with the Buenos Aires authorities.
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The daughters of the former Barcelona and Napoli forward have pressed for details about the medication their father was taking.
Court investigators have interviewed his relatives, according to a statement from the San Isidro prosecutor's office.
The unit is overseeing a probe into the medical attention the 60-year-old received before his death, which caused an enormous outpouring of emotion across Argentina and among football fans worldwide.
Tens of thousands of crying supporters lined up to file past the star's coffin, which was laid in state at the presidential palace, before his burial on Thursday.
Maradona had suffered a series of medical problems over the years, some due to excesses of drugs and alcohol. He was reportedly near death in both 2000 and 2004.
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Dr Luque said the footballer was a difficult patient to look after and had kicked the doctor out of his house several times.
"Diego did what he wanted," he said.
"Diego needed help. There was no way of getting through to him."
Roughly 30 police officers were reportedly involved in the early-morning raid of the doctor's home, with another 30 storming his office in the capital.
The search orders were approved by a judge following inquiries and come following suspicions over Maradona's recovery after being discharged.
Officials want to uncover how many times the clinician visited the star at his house.
Maradona is widely regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time and was the inspiration for Argentina's World Cup success in Mexico in 1986. He also led the country to the final of the 1990 tournament in Italy and managed them in South Africa in 2010.
