Authorities raided the home and offices of Diego Maradona’s personal doctor on Sunday to investigate the circumstances surrounding the football star’s death last week.
Prosecutors in San Isidro, Buenos Aires Province, requested a search warrant for doctor Leopoldo Luque after collecting evidence and questioning Mr Maradona’s relatives, according to a statement from the public prosecutor’s office in San Isidro, Buenos Aires province. The declaration did not contain any details.
It marked the last turning point in soap opera since the death of 60-year-old Maradona on Wednesday, which plunged Argentina into three days of national grief. Widely regarded as one of the best players in the game, Mr Maradona had a story that took him from a poor neighborhood on the outskirts of Buenos Aires to global celebrity and resonance with many Argentines.
Tens of thousands gathered in rows 20 blocks deep Thursday to pay their last respects when the body of Mr Maradona was in the presidential palace.
Representatives said Mr Maradona died of a heart attack at his home in Tigre, north of Buenos Aires. The star was plagued by medical problems this month and was undergoing brain surgery.
For many, however, his death remained a surprise, and afterwards theories, scandals and suspicions of foul play surfaced.
It took an ambulance more than half an hour to arrive, Matias Morla, a lawyer for Mr Maradona, said Thursday, calling it “criminal idiocy” and adding that he would petition for an investigation into the death. Prosecutors have denied this schedule, saying the ambulance would have arrived in 12 minutes.
Another former doctor for Mr Maradona, Alfredo Cahe, described his death as “unusual”, adding that a doctor should have been in his room and that Mr Maradona should have stayed in the hospital after his operation.
Further intrigues built by sources told the media that a nurse who wrote in a report that she was looking for Mr Maradona on the morning of his death did not.
The searches by Dr. Luque’s apartment and office were carried out early Sunday after Mr Maradona’s daughters requested a review of Dr. Luque and his team had asked for prescribed medication.
Mr Maradona was famous for leading Argentina to victory at the 1986 World Cup and scoring an iconic goal in the quarter-finals against England. In addition to his athletic achievements, he was known for his left-wing politics and his honesty towards his struggles with drug and alcohol addiction.
Isabella Kwai reported from London. Mark Walsh reported from London and Daniel Politi from Buenos Aires.
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