An Argentine court has sentenced 45-year-old football supporter Sergio Di Vanni to seven and a half years in prison for threatening Angel Di Maria and his family in 2024, after finding him guilty of ordering acts of intimidation aimed at preventing the former Argentina international from returning home to play for Rosario Central, a club in Argentina.
In March 2024, gunshots were fired near a gated community where Di Maria owns a property. A pig’s head with a bullet wound was also left outside an estate agency run by his sister, alongside a message threatening his daughter.
Prosecutors identified 25-year-old Belen Gutierrez as another person involved in the threats. She 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. Prosecutors alleged that the threats were carried out in exchange for four million pesos, equivalent to $2,600.
The prosecution linked the intimidation campaign to an internal power struggle within Newell’s ultras, the club’s organised supporters. Di Vanni’s sentence also covered separate offences connected to his involvement in the group.
Di Maria initially abandoned his plans to return to Argentina because of concerns for his family’s safety. He later changed his mind and returned to Rosario Central.
Now 38, the forward has spent the past two seasons with the club and helped them win the Argentine title at the end of 2025.
