BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – The doctor of Diego Maradona on Monday sought out the prosecutors who are investigating his treatment of the late Argentine soccer superstar before he died last week, but was turned away because he has not been charged with a crime.
The probe into Maradona’s death prompted prosecutors to search the home and office of Dr. Leopoldo Luque on Sunday. They took medical files but did not charge him or say what prompted the investigation. Luque has since gone on a media offensive.
He has done extensive press interviews and let the media know he would appear at the district attorney’s office in the Buenos Aires suburb San Isidro, which is conducting the probe.
Luque appeared at the office to give a statement but he was not allowed to do so “because he is not formally charged,” his lawyer, Mara Digiuni tweeted. Maradona, considered one of the best players ever, died from a heart attack at age 60.
Members of Maradona’s family have said his death was avoidable and his lawyer told reporters that a delay in the arrival of the ambulance to take Maradona to the hospital on the day he died amounted to “criminal idiocy”.
Maradona became an international superstar and achieved semi-divine status at home after leading Argentina to victory in the 1986 World Cup. He struggled with addiction in recent years.
“Diego was tired, tired of being ‘Maradona'”, Luque told reporters on Sunday.
(Reporting by Ramiro Scandolo and Miguel Lo Bianco; writing by Hugh Bronstein; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
