Diego Maradona had bipolar and narcissistic disorders, court told by psychologist on trial | OneFootball

Argentinian psychologist Carlos Diaz told a court that Diego Maradona lived with bipolar disorder and narcissistic personality disorder alongside his addictions. He was testifying in the trial examining medical care around the football icon’s death in 2020.

According to L'Équipe, Diaz, a 34-year-old addiction specialist, appeared for the first time at the San Isidro court, near Buenos Aires, where seven healthcare workers have been on trial for two weeks over possible fatal negligence.

Diaz said Maradona needed treatment not only for alcohol and psychotropic substance dependence but also for those two chronic, lifelong conditions. He said he supported him on an abstinence programme in his final month, believed it worked, and pointed to toxicology findings.

It was the first time a specialist had publicly set out such a mental health diagnosis for Maradona, whose cocaine and alcohol problems were long documented. Diaz added that the star’s consumption was closely tied to sporting highs and that he struggled to handle frustration.

Maradona died aged 60 on 25 November 2020 from cardiorespiratory arrest and pulmonary oedema, alone in bed at a rented house during home care after an uncomplicated neurosurgery. At an earlier trial, annulled in May 2025 after a judge was recused, a forensic doctor certified toxicology tests showed no drugs or alcohol.

Diaz said he had nothing to gain from Maradona’s death and only suffered financial and emotional losses. The defendants deny responsibility, citing natural causes, and face between eight and 25 years in prison. The case, heard twice a week, could run until July.

Source: L'Équipe