A football fan has been sentenced to seven and a half years in prison for orchestrating threats against Angel Di Maria and his family in an attempt to prevent the former Manchester United winger from returning to Argentina to play for Rosario Central.
A court in Rosario found 45-year-old Sergio Di Vanni guilty of ordering acts of intimidation against Di Maria’s family in March 2024. Prosecutors said the threats were intended to discourage the World Cup winner from returning from Europe to play for Rosario Central, one of Argentina’s most prominent football clubs.
At the time, Di Maria was playing for Benfica in Portugal and was considering a return to his boyhood club. He eventually completed the move in 2025, despite the threats that had raised serious concerns about his family’s safety.
Rosario Central and Newell’s Old Boys, the childhood club of Argentina captain Lionel Messi, are the two major football teams in Rosario. Their rivalry is among the most intense in Argentine football, with supporters on both sides deeply invested in the city’s football identity.
The intimidation campaign against Di Maria’s family included gunshots fired near a gated community where the former Argentina international owns a property. In another incident, a pig’s head bearing a bullet wound was left outside an estate agency operated by his sister. A message threatening Di Maria’s daughter was reportedly found alongside it.
The incidents formed part of a wider effort to influence the player’s decision about returning to Argentina. Prosecutors alleged that Di Vanni and other suspects carried out the threats in exchange for four million Argentine pesos, equivalent to approximately $2,600.
A 25-year-old woman, Belen Gutierrez, whom prosecutors identified as one of the perpetrators, was sentenced to three and a half years in prison in June after reaching a plea agreement. A third suspect remains in pre-trial detention.
According to prosecutors, the intimidation campaign was connected to an internal power struggle within Newell’s Old Boys’ ultras, the organised supporter groups associated with the club. Di Vanni’s sentence also covered separate offences linked to his involvement in the supporters’ group.
The threats reportedly left Di Maria considering whether to abandon his planned return to Argentina because of concerns for his family’s security. His eventual decision to return brought him back to the club where his professional career began, following years playing for some of Europe’s leading teams.
Di Maria, now 38, has spent the past two seasons with Rosario Central. His return proved successful on the pitch, with the club claiming the Argentine title at the end of 2025.
The prison sentence highlights the serious consequences of the intimidation directed at the player’s family as supporters’ rivalries and disputes within organised fan groups extended beyond football. Di Maria ultimately returned to Rosario Central despite the threats that had threatened to derail his homecoming.
