Maradona death trial: Star’s former manager questions conditions of home care
Matías Morla tells court Diego Maradona would never have accepted the conditions of the Tigre house where the star spent his final days, arguing the home as ill-equipped for a medical emergency.
Diego Maradona’s former manager has told the trial into the late star’s death that the footballer would never have accepted staying in the house where he was placed under home care before his death in 2020.
Lawyer Matías Morla, one of the people seen as closest to the former footballer in his later years, testified that had Maradona been in good health, he “wouldn’t have spent even 30 seconds” inside the house in the Buenos Aires suburb of Tigre where he was recovering from brain surgery.
Maradona remained there until he died from pulmonary oedema and cardiorespiratory arrest on November 25, 2020.
The trial, taking place in San Isidro, is examining both the appropriateness of the decision to place Maradona under home care and the conditions in which that care was provided. It is also assessing the responsibility of the medical team tasked with looking after him.
Like previous witnesses, Morla said the room where Maradona was staying “had been set up in a very makeshift way” and that there was “no medical equipment or ambulance” at the property to deal with an emergency.
While Maradona was alive, Morla managed his business affairs and hired staff to assist the former footballer. However, he insisted he played no role in the decision to place him under home care.
“We all trusted Swiss Medical. I’m not a doctor,” he told the court, referring to the private healthcare provider.
Morla was also one of the few witnesses to speak favourably about neurosurgeon Leopoldo Luque, Maradona’s personal physician and the main defendant in the case.
“Diego loved Luque. He had enormous trust in him,” Morla said.
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