‘They killed him’ – Ex-wife, others protest Maradona’s death

Even in death, Argentine football legend Diego Maradona isn’t far from controversy.

On Wednesday, hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets of Buenos Aires to demand what they say is justice for the late football icon, who passed away in November 2020.

Wearing Argentinian football jerseys, the protesters held banners and flags emblazoned with Maradona’s face, as well as a cut-out of the superstar.

“He did not die, they killed him!” the organisers of the demonstration said in materials sent out on social media prior to the march.

The march kicked off at the emblematic Obelisco monument in central Buenos Aires, where protesters waved flags and sang songs in homage to Maradona, choking the streets around rush hour in the country’s capital.

Maradona’s ex-wife, Claudia Villafane, and two of his daughters, Dalma and Gianinna, led the early evening rally, with banners calling for social and legal justice in the case.

Maradona, a World Cup winner idolized in his native Argentina and beyond, attained almost godlike status in his home country in spite of long battles with drug and alcohol addiction and poor health.

The protest comes as a medical board, at the request of the justice department, met on Monday to analyze Maradona’s death.

The idol, who won the 1986 World Cup, had serious health problems and was recovering from brain surgery when he died in the suburbs of Buenos Aires.

Investigators are looking at whether members of Maradona’s medical team did not adequately treat the legendary no 10, who played for teams around the world including Napoli, Barcelona and Boca Juniors.