Maradona's Masseur Testifies at Trial
Nicolas Taffarel testified about the final days of the football legend, describing him as swollen, bedridden, and resigned to his fate.
Nicolas Taffarel testified about the final days of the football legend, describing him as swollen, bedridden, and resigned to his fate.
At the trial of seven health workers in Argentina, which began in mid-April 2026, Diego Maradona's masseur, Nicolas Taffarel, testified. On Thursday, August 7, 2026, he shared harrowing details with the court about the football legend's final days, including his last words.
Taffarel described Maradona in the days before his death as someone who refused basic self-care. "He didn't want to get out of bed, he didn't want to eat, he didn't want to wash, he didn't want to take care of his personal hygiene," the masseur said, as reported by Al Jazeera. He added that the footballer was swollen, with his legs puffy.
Concerned about his condition, Taffarel claimed he had warned the medical team. "I reported the problems I noticed with him, but I didn't see any concrete action or a quick solution," he said, on the verge of tears. In an audio message played in court, he appealed to the medical staff to be more present and to come "every day."
The doctors told me to calm down, that these symptoms would pass. When you're anxious, you believe them; you tell yourself it will pass, that everything will be resolved. But it didn't pass.
The day before his death, on November 24, 2020, Taffarel tried to persuade Maradona to drink mate, a traditional herbal infusion. At that moment, Maradona told him: "I don't want anything, Taffita, that's it." The masseur asked him: "What do you mean, that's it?" to which the legend replied: "Nothing, that's it."
Al Jazeera notes the ambiguity of his words in Spanish, the phrase "ya esta" can be understood both as "everything is fine" and as "it's over."
Maradona died on November 25, 2020, at the age of 60, from heart failure and acute pulmonary edema, a condition involving fluid accumulation in the lungs. His death came just two weeks after surgery. The seven accused health workers deny responsibility, with most defending themselves by citing their specialization and limited role that had no direct connection to the clinical causes of death. If found guilty, they face up to 25 years in prison. The trial is expected to extend beyond this month.
