Diego Maradona’s daughter Giannina said the former star “could not recognize himself in a photo” in the days leading up to his death. 

Testifying on Tuesday in the trial hearing over the former star’s death, the youngest of Maradona’s two daughters with childhood sweetheart and ex-wife Claudia Villafañe, painted a clear image of his father’s status in his last days.

Giannina recalled talking to her father on October 10, 2020, and worrying about his condition.

“I asked him how he was doing and he replied he wasn’t doing very well, since it had been his birthday and nobody had joined him,” she said. “I had to tell him that his birthday was on the 30th. He seemed lost.”

The former wife of Argentine football star Sergio “Kun” Agüero — with whom she has a son — told the judges she did in fact visit her father on his birthday, but found him abandoned to his own devices despite being surrounded by people, sitting by a fire on a hot day in full clothing.

“My son walked in, wearing a shirt with the faces of my dad and [former Argentine national team teammate Claudio] Caniggia,” she explained. “He showed it to him, and my dad looked at it but couldn’t recognize himself. I asked him if he was all right and he said he wasn’t.”

Giannina insisted she tried to take her father under her care, but that his entourage refused before calling the police to report her. They also told her that he had to attend the Gimnasia Esgrima La Plata stadium, part of the celebrations as First Division football went back into action. At the event, Maradona appeared disheveled. Two people had to help him onto the pitch and he visibly struggled to focus.

“I talked to [Maradona’s main medical advisor, Leopoldo] Luque and told him my father was very lost, sad and very able to walk,” she said. “He replied he had good days and bad days and that Cosachov and Diaz were there to help him.” 

She added that despite Luque’s assurances Maradona was feeling better, she thought his condition had worsened. “He was dulled, slow-thinking and could not understand reality,” Giannina said.

She held Luque responsible for Maradona’s death, as well as the former star’s lawyer Matías Morla “who had hired [the doctor].”

The trial continues.