By Frank Pingue
(Reuters) – A year after Diego Maradona died from heart failure, Spotify said on Tuesday it will launch a six-episode podcast exploring the final days of the Argentine soccer great, whose passing raised questions about his medical treatment.
Featuring never-before-heard interviews with those who were closest to the captain of the 1986 World Cup-winning Argentina team, “The Last Days of Maradona” will be released on Nov. 23, two days before the anniversary of his death.
In a first for Spotify, six adaptations of the podcast in different languages, each with its own host, will be launched simultaneously for a global audience with World Cup winner Thierry Henry hosting both the English and French versions.
There will also be versions in Italian, Portuguese and two in Spanish, with one geared towards Spain and the other towards Latin America.
Maradona, the charismatic and revered Boca Juniors and Napoli star who had alcohol and drug addictions for many years, died at the age of 60 last November after undergoing brain surgery earlier that month.
Argentine prosecutors launched investigations shortly after his death, including ordering searches of his personal doctor’s properties and probing others involved in his care.
A medical board formally appointed to investigate Maradona’s death concluded several members of the star’s medical team acted in an “inappropriate, deficient and reckless manner,” and said he was not properly monitored before he died.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Karishma Singh)
