Stinfale Clashes With Luque: “You’re Not Operating on Maradona’s Brain”

In a dramatic testimony during the ongoing trial into Diego Maradona’s death, former legal advisor Víctor Stinfale revealed heated conflicts with neurosurgeon Leopoldo Luque in the days leading up to the football legend’s surgery for a subdural hematoma in 2020. According to TyC Sports, Stinfale admitted to threatening Luque, telling him: “I’ll throw you out the window. You’re not going to touch Maradona’s brain.”

Stinfale recounted that his distrust of Luque began after seeing him discuss Maradona’s addictions on television. “To me, Luque was just a guy playing football with Diego in La Plata,” he said, dismissing his medical credibility.

Tensions peaked when Maradona called Stinfale for help, saying he was being rushed into surgery. Stinfale demanded a top team of specialists and insisted Luque step aside. However, Maradona reportedly refused to be operated on by anyone else. To keep him calm, the inner circle told him Luque would do the surgery — though it was performed by Pablo Rubino, a well-known surgeon who had previously operated on former President Cristina Kirchner.

Stinfale said that Maradona and Luque shared an emotional bond, which he believed blurred the necessary line between doctor and patient. “That kind of personal relationship is incompatible with medical professionalism,” he concluded.

He also criticized the failed conditions of Maradona’s home care and claimed the support structure collapsed. “What was discussed never happened,” he said, calling the overall management chaotic and lacking clear leadership. His testimony adds further weight against Luque, whose role in the case remains under intense scrutiny.