Football fan jailed for threats over Di Maria return to Argentina

A court in Rosario sentenced Sergio Di Vanni, 45, to seven and a half years in prison on Wednesday for organizing threats against Angel Di Maria’s family in 2024 to stop him joining Rosario Central. The intimidation included gunshots near a property owned by the player and a bullet-wounded pig’s head left outside his sister’s estate agency, with a threat against his daughter. Belen Gutierrez, 25, received a three-and-a-half-year sentence in June after a plea agreement, while a third suspect remains in pre-trial detention. Di Maria initially abandoned plans to return to Argentina for his family’s safety, but joined Rosario Central in 2025 and helped the club win the Argentine title at the end of that year.