Angel Di Maria has put the brakes on his intended return his hometown club where he started his career, Rosario Central, after his sister was sent a box containing a pig’s head, a bullet and a threat against his daughter’s life if he went through on his plans.
The 145-cap Argentina winger had previously stated his desire to return to Rosario to round out his career, but the threat has quite understandably caused him to reconsider.
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Angel Di Maria ditches Rosario Central plans after family threatened
As reported by CBS News, Di Maria told TV station Rosario3: “There was a threat at my sister’s business.
“It was a box with a pig head and a bullet in the forehead, and a note that said that if I returned to Rosario Central, the next head was that of my daughter Pia.
“I am not going to return to Rosario in this way. They touched my family and I am not going to allow that. Not at any price.” Di Maria added that he was determined to protect his family’s “peace and happiness”.
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Lionel Messi’s family has also been targeted in Rosario (Image credit: Getty Images)
Di Maria has also spoken out against what he sees an inadequate provision from the country’s authorities to protect people’s safety in the city.
Last year a shop owned by Lionel Messi’s wife was fired on by gunmen in Rosario, with CBS reporting that the targeting of footballers and other high-profile figures has been ‘interpreted as gangs flexing their muscles’.
Di Maria said: “It is disrespectful to talk about security and protocols for me when people from Rosario cannot go out to work, cannot wait for the bus without being robbed or killed for a backpack.”
Di Maria most recently won Copa America (Image credit: Getty Images)
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