The Argentine justice system has been investigating since Friday whether there was negligence surrounding the death of the global icon Diego Armando Maradona: prosecutors are trying to determine if he received the necessary care and what were the circumstances of his last hours.

"There are already irregularities," a family member told AFP.

A few hours after his death, Matías Morla, Maradona's lawyer and friend, denounced on Thursday "that the ambulance took more than half an hour to arrive at the house where the number 10 was." That is why he warned that he will "go to the very end."

However, neither he nor any family member has presented themselves as a plaintiff in the case, a judicial source clarified to AFP.

"The case was initiated because it is a person who died at home and no one signed the death certificate. It doesn't mean that there are suspicions of irregularities, that's what is being investigated," said the source who requested anonymity.

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The World Cup champion in Mexico-1986 died last Wednesday at the age of 60 due to "acute pulmonary edema and chronic heart failure". He was at home in a gated community in the town of Tigre (30 km north of Buenos Aires), where he had been living since November 11, after being discharged from the clinic where he had undergone surgery for a hematoma in his head six days earlier.

The case opened by the General Prosecutor's Office of San Isidro is titled "Maradona, Diego. Investigation of the cause of death".'

"Contradictions in statement"

"We have to see if they complied with what had to be done or if they relaxed. The nurse (note: on duty when it was determined that the idol was dead) stated one thing when the prosecutor appeared on the day of Diego's death, then expanded her statement and, in the end, said on television that what she said was forced, so there is some contradiction in her statement," warned the family member who requested anonymity.

The prosecution is awaiting the results of toxicological tests on Maradona's body. As part of the investigation being carried out by three prosecutors, his medical records and the records from the cameras in the neighborhood where he lived his last days have been requested.

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The Last Hours

The witnesses have already begun to appear in court.

"It was established that (a nurse in charge of taking care of him) would have been the last person to see him alive at approximately 6:30 in the morning (on Wednesday), at the time of the shift change," a statement from the prosecution said.

In his testimony given on Thursday, the nurse "said that he found Maradona resting in his bed, assuring that he was sleeping and breathing normally."

Until this statement, it was believed that the last person to have seen him alive was his nephew Johnny Herrera, at 11:30 p.m. on Tuesday, according to his testimony.

That is, almost 12 hours before his death. His lawyer declared himself outraged and denounced this "criminal stupidity."

In addition, the nurse who was present at the time of his death also expanded her testimony. "She stated that around 7:30 she heard him moving inside the room," the statement said.

Initially, the woman, who took the morning shift, had said that at 11:00 a.m. she saw him sleeping and didn't want to disturb him, preferring to wait for the arrival at noon of psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov and psychologist Carlos Díaz.

Cosachov and Díaz were the ones who noticed that Maradona was not reacting. That's when the requests for help began. A doctor in the neighborhood tried to resuscitate him.

The first call to Maradona's prepaid medicine company was made at 12:17 p.m. One minute earlier, a call to 911 was made by Maradona's personal doctor, Leopoldo Luque.

The first ambulance arrived at 12:27 p.m. Other ambulances were later seen entering, the prosecution said.

Poor Health

The location of the house for Maradona's rehabilitation had been chosen so that it would be close to his daughters.

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After the surgery, the recovery was good, according to his doctor Luque. But Maradona's health was precarious due to his cardiac history. He was going through alcohol withdrawal, which he usually mixed with the many prescribed medications he took.

"Diego had the discharge and then, although the clinic recommended that he go to another place to be interned, the family decided otherwise. In fact, the daughters signed the discharge from the hospital themselves," said the family member.

The World Cup champion in Mexico-1986, who was at least twice on the brink of death in 2000 and 2004, was seen in very poor health on October 30, on his last public appearance at the Gimnasia stadium on his 60th birthday. (D)