Maradona's doctor tearfully denies responsibility for football icon's fatal heart attack
DIEGO Maradona's personal physician broke down in tears as he spoke about his treatment of the football legend following a police search of his home today.
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The football legend died at the age of 60 last week after suffering a cardiac arrest. He was pronounced dead at the property near to where one of his two daughters with ex-wife Claudia Villafane lives. The former Naples and Barcelona star had also been in hospital for surgery earlier this month to remove a blood clot from his brain.
Argentinian media are now reporting Maradona's physician Leopoldo Luque could be questioned as an "imputado", which is someone under official investigation on suspicion of possible negligence.
Mr Luque became emotional in an interview earlier today as he insisted he had done everything possible to help the retired footballer during a press conference near his home in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Mr Luque said he did "not blame himself for anything", before adding Maradona was his own worst enemy when it came to accepting help from professionals.
He said: “I was shocked when police turned up at my door. I’m going to co-operate fully.
“I know what I did and what I did was for Diego’s benefit until the last moment. I did the best I could.
“I feel terrible because a friend died.
“I don’t blame myself for anything. It’s very unfair what’s happening.
“I didn’t see Diego’s daughters a lot but the rest of his family, his siblings and his nephews adore me.
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“Someone is trying to find a scapegoat here when I don’t see one anywhere.
“We all did the best we could with Diego.”
“You’ll need to ask his psychologists but I thought he looked very down. I’d seen him that way for a while.”
The searches were ordered after Maradona's daughters Dalma and Giannina questioned whether the medication their father was receiving was appropriate.
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But his former doctor added he believed Maradona had a problem with pills and alcohol.
Mr Luque said: “He punished himself in a way I wasn’t going to allow, not as a doctor but as a friend.
“I don’t see good and bad people in all this. We all did what we could. But Diego was the most difficult one of them. You couldn’t do anything if Diego didn’t want it.
"He hated doctors and psychologists. With me it was different because I was honest with him. He was my friend.
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“He should have gone to a centre of rehabilitation when he left hospital but he didn’t want to.
“If I’m responsible for anything when it comes to Diego, it was loving him and improving his life.”
Maradona's lawyer Matias Morla last week demanded a probe into the emergency response to the retired footballer's death.
Mr Morla said the first ambulance took more than half an hour to reach the rented house north of Buenos Aires where he suffered heart failure.
It later emerged the first ambulance took 11 minutes to reach the private San Andres gated estate near Buenos Aires Maradona moved to after leaving hospital on November 11 following his brain blood clot operation.
The Argentine FA confirmed the news of his death on social media last week, which resulted in an outpouring of grief from the global football community.
It said in a statement: "The Argentine Football Association, through its President Claudio Tapia, expresses its deepest sorrow for the death of our legend, Diego Armando Maradona.
"You will always be in our hearts."