Diego Maradona was in agony for 12 hours and the medical team treating him was "deficient, reckless and indifferent" when faced with his possible death, according to a report from the medical board appointed to investigate his demise.
The Argentine football great "did not have full use of his mental faculties" and could have had "a better chance of survival" if he had been admitted to a healthcare facility, the medical board concluded in its report, which will become of the part of the judicial investigation into this death, the prosecutor handling the case confirmed to CNN.
Investigators are looking into why the former footballer was treated at a house during his final days and whether his psychological state allowed him to make decisions of his own accord, as well as looking into a lack of treatment for his heart condition, among other things.
Each of these elements is mentioned in the medical board report, which CNN obtained from a source working on the case.
No one has been formally charged, but seven people have been told they are under investigation, although they deny any responsibility.
'He would have had a better chance of survival'
"Although it is counterfactual to assert that DAM (Diego Armando Maradona) wouldn't have died if he had been treated adequately, taking into account what was known about the days leading up to his death we agree that he would have had a better chance of survival if he had been treated in a healthcare facility according to medical best practice," reads the report.
The work of Maradona's medical team, led by neurosurgeon Leopoldo Luque and psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov, was heavily criticised by the investigators.
In addition to calling their actions "inadequate, deficient and reckless," the board said it is possible to infer "that the medical team viewed fully and completely the possible death of the patient, were completely indifferent to the possibility and didn't change their behavior or treatment plan, sustaining the damaging omissions laid out previously, leaving the health of the patient 'to chance.'"
In November, Luque told prosecutors about his professional relationship with Maradona. "There is nothing to suggest I was negligent," he said.
In December, Cosachov's lawyer told CNN that his client "had used her best judgment from a medical point of view."
Argentine soccer star Diego Maradona, wearing a diamond earring, balances a soccer ball on his head as he walks off the practice field following the national selection's May 22, 1986 practice session in Mexico City.
Argentine soccer star Diego Maradona, wearing a diamond earring, balances a soccer ball on his head as he walks off the practice field following the national selection's May 22, 1986 practice session in Mexico City.
