Death Threats Against Angel Di Maria and His Family
Former PSG player Angel Di Maria has been threatened with death… because he is considering returning to his hometown club Rosario in Argentina.
Coming to the end of his contract with Benfica Lisbon in June, 36-year-old winger Angel Di Maria, who has played 22 matches and scored 8 goals in Liga Sagres this season, has openly expressed his desire to return to Rosario Central, the club of his childhood. However, this career plan has sparked mixed reactions in Argentina. According to Infobae, the family of the former Paris Saint-Germain player has been targeted with death threats. These threats were conveyed through a message found in a nylon bag thrown into the courtyard of El Fideo’s residence.
« Tell your son Angel not to return to Rosario, or else we will ruin him by killing a family member. Not even Pullaro (the new governor of the province of Santa Fe) will save you. »
« We don’t throw pieces of paper. We throw lead and corpses, » the message reportedly said. This could be a move by drug traffickers, whom Maximiliano Pullaro is trying to combat, in order to make themselves heard in response to this crackdown.
Rosario’s club responded with a statement. « The Club categorically rejects the publicly known facts, in which threats have been made against a famous footballer from our academy. Faced with this new act of violence, the institution is at the disposal of all competent authorities and organizations to clarify the facts and identify and punish those responsible, » the Rosario club promises through an official statement.
« We feel aggrieved, as this type of violent action directly attacks the economy and sporting success of the clubs. We have already had the unfortunate death of Ivana (a fan who died after being attacked during the derby against Newell’s Old Boys), still without justice, due to a sporting outcome. It is unacceptable that they want to intimidate footballers or target them and/or their families. (…) This must be definitively stopped in the city of Rosario, » insists the Argentinean team.
Rosario is the most dangerous city in Argentina, with a homicide rate of 22 per 100,000 inhabitants, a figure 5 times higher than the national average.