Angel Di Maria last week expressed his desire to return to his hometown of Rosario to play football for his old club Rosario Central. However, his dream is not something he can do, because the hometown of Di Maria and Lionel Messi is no longer a safe place.
Di Maria’s parents received death threats if their son returned to Rosario
After Di Maria’s statement, last Monday morning a car passed by the Di Maria family’s house, leaving behind a letter with threatening words. The letter contained a warning to Di Maria’s parents that if he returned to Rosario, even the city government would not be able to protect him and his family.
“Tell your son Angel not to return to Rosario. Otherwise we will kill one of your family members, even Pullaro (provincial governor Maximiliano Pullaro) will not be able to save you. We didn’t leave behind papers, we left behind corpses and bullets.” 
City police immediately had to deploy security for Di Maria’s family. They are no strangers to this situation when last year a supermarket owned by the family of Antonela Roccuzzo, Lionel Messi’s wife, was attacked by unknown gunmen.
Messi is revered in Rosario but he is threatened by gangs with death if he returns
Rosario is witnessing an escalating wave of violence in recent years. Considered a gateway for Argentina to export agricultural products internationally, this city is now also a place to distribute drugs for gangs. Many crimes related to drug trafficking gangs have taken place, they especially target famous people to create fear in the public and local authorities.
Messi and Di Maria both had hopes of returning to play in their hometown of Rosario for their two boyhood clubs, Newell’s Old Boys and Rosario Central. However, their return at this time is very risky. Right at the beginning of this month, in front of Messi’s parents’ house, there was a shooting and 14 bullets were fired into the gate of the house, along with a letter threatening Messi. that Mayor Pablo Javkin would not be able to protect him.
