Diego Maradona doctor ‘investigated for manslaughter’ as Argentine police raid home and clinic

Investigators probing the death of Diego Maradona have searched the home and office of the late star’s physician as they consider the possibility the Argentine icon died as a result of involuntary manslaughter.

Argentine news outlets reported on Sunday that raids had been conducted at the home of Leopoldo Luque, a 39-year-old doctor, on the outskirts of Buenos Aires as well as his office in the Belgrano area of the city.

The searches reportedly took place after testimony provided by two of Maradona’s three daughters – Dalma and Gianinna – following the football icon’s shock death from heart failure at the age of 60 last week.

The late World Cup winner’s daughters are said to have questioned whether their father was being given the right medication and care around the time of his death.

It is being reported that Luque could be questioned on suspicion of negligence, rather than merely as a witness, although there is no suggestion at this stage that he will be charged.

Police officers seen outside the building where Leopoldo Luque, the personal doctor of late Argentine soccer legend Maradona, has his office. © Reuters

The news follows calls from Maradona’s lawyer, Matias Morla, for a full inquiry into the former Barcelona and Napoli star’s death, which caused an outpouring of grief across Argentina and the wider footballing world.  

There were also questions raised over the length of time the ambulance took to reach Maradona’s home in Tigre, to the north of Buenos Aires, which is where the football icon passed away.

Law officials will seek medical records for personal doctor Luque and they could demand cell phone records for the days leading up to Maradona’s death, according to Argentine outlet Clarin.

The Sunday raids reportedly involved 30 police officers at each location.

Maradona and Luque are alleged to have had an argument earlier in November while Maradona was recovering from surgery he had undergone to remove a blood clot on the brain.

Maradona and Luque pictured after the former's operation earlier in November. © AFP

On November 25, the day of Maradona’s death, nurse Dahiana Gisela is said to have found the star unresponsive and tried to perform mouth-to-mouth breathing and heart massages, but without success.

However, Gisela herself is at the center of a row after she claimed that the company she works for, Medidom, forced her to write that she had checked on Maradona that morning, when in fact she let him rest.

One of Maradona's former doctors, Alfredo Cahe, has questioned the care he was receiving so soon after undergoing such a sensitive brain operation, saying that “a doctor should have been permanently in Diego's room."

At the same time, Cahe had claimed that the 60-year-old was “very sad” and “deeply distressed.”

Following the news of Maradona’s death, three days of mourning was declared in Argentina as hundreds of thousands of grieving fans took to the streets to honor their late idol, who was the driving force behind their World Cup victory in 1986.

Large crowds of fans paid a visit to Maradona’s coffin as it lay in state at the presidential palace in Buenos Aires, before being buried on Thursday.   

But there was also anger after it emerged that a small group of funeral parlor workers hired to help with the funeral burial arrangements had taken photos next to the late star’s open coffin.