CELEBRITY
AUTOPSY REVEALS MARADONA SUFFERED FROM LIVER, KIDNEY AND HEART DISORDERS
Argentina football legend Diego Maradona was suffering from liver, kidney and cardiovascular disorders but there were no signs of alcohol or narcotics consumption in his autopsy, the public prosecutor said on Wednesday (Dec 23).
World Cup winning captain from Mexico ’86, Maradona died of a heart-attack on 25 November at the age of 60.
The public prosecutor in San Isidro, a northern suburb of the capital Buenos Aires, published the results of Maradona’s autopsy late on Tuesday night.
It was ordered as part of an investigation into his death to see if there was any negligence or recklessness in the health care he was provided.
At the end of his life he was suffering from a variety of illnesses including cirrhosis, heart disease and kidney failure.
The toxicology analysis showed there was no alcohol or narcotics in his blood or urine but Maradona was taking anti-depressants, an anti-psychotic drug and various other medication to treat ulcers, convulsions, dependencies and difficulties in expelling waste.
Maradona had battled cocaine and alcohol addictions during his life.
“What’s come out of the laboratory analysis is as important as what hasn’t, which simply confirms that Maradona was given psychotropic drugs but no medicine for heart disease,” one of the investigators told the Telam press agency.
Psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov and heart surgeon Leopoldo Luque are under investigation as they were treating Maradona before his death.
A first autopsy conducted the day Maradona died found he had suffered from liquid on the lungs with acute heart failure brought on by a disease of the heart muscles that makes it harder to pump blood.
Maradona’s heart was twice the normal weight.
He had undergone an operation for a bleed on the brain on Nov 3, just five days after his 60th birthday where he briefly attended a party in his honour at the club he was coaching, Gimnasia y Esgrima, although he appeared to be in poor health.
Maradona was widely regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time.
He is a legend in his homeland having been instrumental in guiding them to World Cup glory in 1986 and then again to the final in Italy four years later.
He is also an icon in Naples were as a player he helped Napoli win the only two Serie A titles in their history.
He had much less success as a coach, taking Argentina to the World Cup quarter-finals in South Africa in 2010 before embarking on a nomadic journey that took him to the United Arab Emirates and Mexico.
He was the coach of Argentine Primera Division side Gimnasia at the time of his death.
-AFP
Cristiano Ronaldo has become the first footballer to reach billionaire status, according to the latest Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which has valued the Portugal great’s net worth at an estimated $1.4 billion.
The 40-year-old striker’s financial ascent comes after he signed a new contract with Saudi side Al-Nassr in June reportedly worth more than $400 million.
Bloomberg said that Ronaldo earned more than $550 million in salary between 2002 and 2023, supplemented by a decade-long Nike deal worth nearly $18 million annually, and lucrative endorsements with Armani, Castrol and others that added more than $175 million to his fortune.
Ronaldo’s move to Al-Nassr from Manchester United in 2023 had already made him the highest-paid player in football history, with an annual salary of 177 million pounds ($237.52 million), plus bonuses and a reported 15% share in his Saudi Arabia club.
Argentina and Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi has earned more than $600 million in pre-tax salary during his career.
Ronaldo’s billionaire status places him among a rare group of athletes that includes basketball greats Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and LeBron James, golfer Tiger Woods and tennis player Roger Federer.
Ronaldo suggested he is not considering retirement any time soon.
“I still have a passion for this,” he said at the Portugal Football Globes gala on Tuesday. “My family says it’s time to quit and they ask me why I want to score 1000 goals if I’ve already scored 900-something. But I don’t think that way inside.
“I’m still producing good things, I’m helping my club and the national team. Why not continue? I am sure that when I finish I will leave full because I gave everything of myself. I know I don’t have many years left to play, but the few I have left, I have to enjoy them to the fullest.”
-Reuters
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Former England soccer captain David Beckham and actor Gary Oldman were knighted in King Charles’ annual birthday honours list on Saturday, while sculptor Antony Gormley was made a Companion of Honour.
Beckham, 50, joined Manchester United as a trainee in 1993, going on to make almost 400 appearances for the club where he won a string of titles and cups.
He subsequently played for Real Madrid, LA Galaxy, and Inter Milan, as well as captaining his country 58 times and making 115 appearances.
His marriage to fashion designer and former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham in 1999 cemented a celebrity status which went far beyond his sporting exploits.
Oldman, 67, started his career on the stage, where he was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, before rising to prominence in film. He won the best actor Oscar for playing Winston Churchill in the 2017 drama “Darkest Hour”.
He also had roles in the “Dark Knight Trilogy” and the “Harry Potter” movie series and more recently starred in the TV spy drama “Slow Horses”.
Other famous names receiving honours included damehoods for musical theatre star Elaine Paige, novelist Pat Barker and ceramics maker Emma Bridgewater.
Roger Daltrey, lead singer of rock band the Who and a patron of the Teenage Cancer Trust, received a knighthood for services to charity.
More than 1,200 people received honours for their achievements, with a particular focus on those who had given their time to public service, the government said.
King Charles’ official birthday will be celebrated with the annual “Trooping the Colour” military parade in London on Saturday. His actual birthday is on November 14
-Reuters
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One of three judges in Diego Maradona’s closely scrutinized homicide trial in Argentina resigned on Tuesday amid a scandal triggered by the alleged filming of an unauthorised documentary, bringing uncertainty to the future of legal proceedings.
The high-profile trial over the death of soccer star Maradona began on March 11 in the South American country where the World Cup winner is still revered.
-Reuters
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