Diego Maradona was suffering from liver, kidney and cardiovascular disorders but there were no signs of alcohol or narcotics consumption in his autopsy, a public prosecutor said on Wednesday.
Argentina's most famous number 10, who led the Albiceleste to World Cup glory in Mexico '86, died of a heart-attack on November 25 at the age of 60.
The public prosecutor's office in San Isidro, a northern suburb of the capital Buenos Aires, published the results of the late footballer's autopsy late on Tuesday night. It was ordered as part of an investigation into his death to see if there was any negligence or recklessness in the healthcare he was provided.
At the end of his life he was suffering from a variety of illnesses including cirrhosis, heart disease and kidney failure, the autopsy found.
The toxicology analysis showed there was no alcohol or narcotics in his blood or urine but Maradona was taking anti-depressants, an anti-psychotic drug and various other medication to treat ulcers, convulsions, dependencies and difficulties in expelling waste.
Maradona had battled cocaine and alcohol addictions during his life.
"What's come out of the laboratory analysis is as important as what hasn't, which simply confirms that Maradona was given psychotropic drugs but no medicine for heart disease," one of the investigators told the Télam press agency.
Psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov and heart surgeon Leopoldo Luque, who acted as a personal physician to the star, are under investigation as they were treating Maradona before his death.
A preliminary autopsy conducted the day the legendary Argentine died found he had died in his sleep of acute pulmonary edema, a build-up of fluid in the lungs, and acute heart failure brought on by a disease of the heart muscles that makes it harder to pump blood. Maradona's heart was twice the normal weight.
He had undergone an operation for a bleed on the brain on November 3, just five days after his 60th birthday where he briefly attended a party in his honour at the club he was coaching, Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata, although he appeared to be in poor health.
Gianinna Maradona, one of Maradona's daughters, commented on the autopsy result in a social media post, lashing out at critics. She said her father had not been his usual self in the weeks before his death.
"All the sons of bitches waiting for my dad's autopsy to reveal drugs, marijuana and alcohol. I am not a doctor but I saw him very swollen. A robotic voice. It wasn't his voice..." she wrote, saying the results were “compatible with cirrhosis of the liver.”
Maradona is widely regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time. He is a legend in his homeland having been instrumental in guiding them to World Cup glory in 1986 and then again to the final in Italy four years later. He is also an icon in Naples were as a player he helped Napoli win the only two Serie A titles in their history, while he also starred for clubs such as Barcelona, Argentinos Juniors and Boca Juniors.
He had much less success as a coach, taking the Albcieleste to the World Cup quarter-finals in South Africa in 2010 before embarking on a nomadic journey that took him to the United Arab Emirates and Mexico.
– TIMES/AFP
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