One of the three judges presiding over a negligence trial related to the death of Argentinian football player Diego Maradona has resigned, leaving the case’s future uncertain.
On Tuesday, Judge Julieta Makintach announced she would recuse herself after reports emerged that she had participated in a documentary about Maradona’s death and its aftermath.
“This is a judicial tragedy,” said Fernando Burlando, a lawyer for Maradona’s eldest daughters, Dalma and Gianinna.
Judges are largely forbidden from taking part in interviews and other public commentary while proceedings are ongoing. Since March 11, Makintach has been part of a three-judge panel weighing the fate of seven healthcare workers who tended to Maradona during his final days.
The seven have been charged with negligent homicide following Maradona’s death by cardiac arrest in 2020 at age 60.
It is a high-profile case that has stirred a great deal of scrutiny in Argentina. Maradona is a national hero, having led the national football squad to a World Cup victory in 1986.
His performance in that year’s World Cup tournament has since become the stuff of sporting legend. Even a foul he committed during the quarterfinal has been dubbed the “Hand of God”, since it led to an Argentinian victory over England – a rival with whom the country had an ongoing territorial dispute.
In 2000, the football governing body, FIFA, named Maradona one of its two “Players of the Century”, alongside Brazil’s Pele.
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