SAN ISIDRO, Argentina (AFP) — Diego Maradona’s daughter Gianinna on Tuesday testified about what she called the “total manipulation” of the late player’s family by doctors in the lead-up to his 2020 death.

She was testifying at the trial of Maradona’s seven-person medical team, which is accused of gross negligence over the death of the Argentine football legend at the age of 60.

“The manipulation was total and horrible,” Gianinna told the court in the northern Buenos Aires suburb of San Isidro, near where Maradona died while convalescing after surgery for a brain clot.

Gianinna said the medics convinced her and her siblings that their father could recuperate safely at his rented home in the suburb of Tigre.

She said the doctors presented this as a “serious” option and assured that his residence would be well equipped in medical terms.

“I trusted these three people, who only manipulated us and left my son without a grandfather,” she added, referring to neurosurgeon Leopoldo Luque, psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov and nurse Carlos Diaz.

A key question at the heart of the trial is whether the decision to allow Maradona to convalesce at home instead of a medical facility endangered his life.

“They (the medical team) were the ones guiding us, his children, on how to proceed,” Gianinna stressed.

The accused argue that the hard-living star, who battled cocaine and alcohol addictions, died of natural causes.

Testifying for over 90 minutes, Gianinna fought back tears as she described racing to her father’s bedside on the day of his death to be told by the ambulance service that there was “nothing they could do” to resuscitate him.

The defendants face prison terms of between eight and 25 years if convicted of homicide with possible intent — pursuing a course of action despite knowing it could lead to death.

The larger-than-life star of the 1986 World Cup died of heart failure and acute pulmonary edema — a condition where fluid accumulates in the lungs — two weeks after the operation.

The passing of the man, who was idolised for his preternatural talent and charisma, plunged Argentina into mourning in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tens of thousands of people defied social distancing rules to bid farewell to him as he lay in state at the presidential palace.

The first trial over his death was annulled last year following revelations that one of the judges took part in a clandestine documentary about the case.

A second trial, conducted by a new panel of judges, began last week. It is expected to last at least three months.