An appeals chamber of the court of San Isidro (northwest of Buenos Aires) had heard in March the arguments of these professionals, who appealed in 2022, accused of homicide with potential aggravating circumstances.
They challenged either the dismissal at all, or the retained chief, some calling for a reclassification as manslaughter.
The Appeals Chamber upheld the original characterization of "possible wilful homicide", i.e. a serious offence when a person commits negligence knowing that it may result in death. She is liable to 8 to 25 years in prison.
Maradona, an icon in Argentina and a legend of world football, died of a cardiorespiratory attack on November 25, 2020 at the age of 60, alone, on a medical bed at a residence in Tigre, north of Buenos Aires, where he was recovering from neurosurgery for a hematoma on his head.
In June 2022 a judge in San Isidro, following the prosecution's requests, had sent eight practitioners to trial, including a neurosurgeon and attending physician, a clinical doctor, a psychiatrist, a psychologist, a chief nurse, nurses. All remain at large.
According to prosecutors, Maradona's staff had been "protagonists of a home hospitalization (...) totally deficient and reckless", marked by a "series of improvisations, mismanagement and failures".
In its resolution on Tuesday, the Appeals Chamber questioned "the conduct allegedly adopted by each of the defendants, not respecting the mandate to act that good medical practice dictated to them".
Diego Maradona's personal physician, Leopoldo Luque, arrives at the court in San Isidro, Buenos Aires province, June 28, 2021 © JUAN MABROMATA / AFP/Archives
Neurosurgeon Leopoldo Luque, psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov, psychologist Carlos Diaz, medical coordinator Nancy Forlini, nursing coordinator Mariano Perroni, nurses Ricardo Almiron and Dahiana Madrid, and clinical doctor Pedro Di Spagna will appear.
No date has been provided by the Appeals Chamber for a trial, which is not expected to take place before 2024.
© 2023 AFP