By Florencia Pessarini
Buenos Aires, May 3 (EFE).- Gianinna Maradona has alleged that financial interests and a “hidden agenda” were behind the death of her father, Diego Armando Maradona, as a trial into the circumstances surrounding his death continues in Argentina.
“I believe there was a hidden agenda, and I still cannot understand why they did it,” she said during a videoconference with several media outlets, including EFE, in remarks coinciding with the ongoing trial over Maradona’s death on Nov. 25, 2020.
While she said the seven medical professionals on trial bear responsibility, she singled out lawyer Matías Morla as the person who “pulled the strings.”
“They wanted to kill him. Morla’s plan was for my dad to no longer be around,” she alleged, claiming the motive was economic, tied to control over the former footballer’s commercial rights.
She argued that business considerations took precedence over her father’s health and cited as an example a public appearance shortly before his death, when he appeared visibly unwell while fulfilling a commercial commitment.
According to her testimony, she had tried to take him away that day after finding him weak, but was prevented from doing so by police acting on Morla’s orders.
Parallel Case Over Commercial Rights
Although Matías Morla is not a defendant in the current trial, Argentine courts have recently ordered a separate case to proceed, in which he is accused of defrauding Maradona’s heirs through the management of his commercial brands.
Prosecutors allege that Morla, along with associates and members of Maradona’s family, controlled a company managing more than 200 trademarks linked to the footballer, valued at around $100 million, and failed to transfer them to the legal heirs.
Trial and Testimony
Gianinna Maradona, a plaintiff in both cases, was the first of Maradona’s daughters to testify in the current trial, which began on Apr. 14 after a previous proceeding was annulled in 2025 due to judicial irregularities.
In emotional testimony, she described the personal toll of her father’s death, saying she sought psychiatric help and struggled with the desire to continue living.
She also spoke of the difficulty of attending the hearings: “It is a profound sadness to face this process and share the same space with people I wish I had never met.”
Defense Pushback
The trial has seen a shift in defense strategy from one of the main defendants, neurosurgeon Leopoldo Luque, who has sought to attribute responsibility to Maradona’s family.
“The fact that they want to hold me and my sisters accountable gave me more strength to speak and say everything I know,” Gianinna said. EFE
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