Buenos Aires (AFP)

Leopoldo Luque, Diego Maradona's personal doctor under investigation following the death of the world football superstar at 60, said on Sunday that he had done "everything he could, until the impossible" for a patient who "did what he wanted".

"Do you want to know what I'm responsible for? For loving him, for taking care of him, for extending his life, for improving him until the end", said Dr Luque at a conference of television press, between two sobs.

Dr Luque, 39, considered himself "a friend" of Maradona and saw him "as a father, not a patient".

He does not know why there was no heart attack defibrillator at his residence in Tigre, and he did indicate that he was not his attending physician.

"I am a neurosurgeon," said Dr Luque, who operated on Maradona for a brain hematoma on November 3.

"I am the person who took care of him (since the operation). I am proud of everything I have done. I have nothing to hide. I am at the disposal of justice," added Dr. Luque.

Maradona died on November 25 from a heart attack in bed.

He was "unmanageable", according to Dr. Luque.

"He should have gone to a rehabilitation center (after his operation). He didn't want to, and he didn't want a therapeutic companion either."

"A psychiatrist had asked that there is always an ambulance in front of his house. I do not know who is responsible for the fact that there was no ambulance (that day)," added the neuro- surgeon.

According to Dr Luque, Diego "was very sad, he wanted to be alone, and it wasn't because he didn't love his daughters, his family, or his entourage (...) He was courageous".

On October 30, his 60th birthday, "he didn't look well," he added.

© 2020 AFP