Rosario:An Argentine court has sentenced a football supporter to seven and a half years in prison for threatening Angel Di Maria in an effort to prevent the World Cup winner from returning to Argentina at the end of his career.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, the court in Rosario found 45-year-old Sergio Di Vanni guilty of orchestrating acts of intimidation against Di Maria's family. The aim was to deter the former Argentina international from returning from abroad to play for a rival club.
At the time of the threats in March 2024, Di Maria was playing for Benfica but was considering a return to his boyhood club, Rosario Central, which he eventually completed in 2025. The threats included gunfire near a gated community where Di Maria owns a property and the delivery of a pig's head with a bullet wound outside an estate agency run by his sister, accompanied by a message threatening his daughter.
Prosecutors identified a 25-year-old woman, Belen Gutierrez, as one of the perpetrators. She was sentenced to three and a half years in prison in June after a plea agreement. Another suspect remains in pre-trial detention, with allegations suggesting the threats were carried out in exchange for four million pesos ($2,600).
The prosecution linked the intimidation campaign to an internal power struggle among Newell's Old Boys' ultras, a rival club to Rosario Central. Di Vanni's sentence also included other offences related to his involvement with the supporters' group.
Following the threats, Di Maria initially reconsidered his plans to return to Argentina due to safety concerns for his family. However, he eventually decided to join Rosario Central, where he has played for the past two seasons, contributing to the club's Argentine title win at the end of 2025.