ROSARIO.- Two violent fans considered the “brains” behind the threats against the footballer Angel Di Mariafacts that motivated his decision not to return to the Rosario Central club, were arrested this morning in the city argentina from Rosario, official sources reported on Thursday.
The arrested, identified as Ricardo “Rengo” Ficadenti (30 years old) and Sergio “Bebe” Di Vanni (43), belong to “the Newell’s Old Boys club’s hooligans,” sources from the Ministry of Security of the province of Santa Fe (center), where the city of Rosario is located, 300 km north of Buenos Aires, told AFP.
Newell’s and Rosario Central have a historic rivalry in Rosario and hooligans from both teams have been involved in violent incidents in recent years, in a city plagued by drug trafficking.
Rosario Central president Gonzalo Belloso revealed on Monday that “Fideo” had decided not to return to play for the local club due to a “lack of security guarantees”, so he will remain linked to Portuguese side Benfica.
The two violent fans were arrested in a car on Thursday by order of prosecutor Pablo Socca, who is investigating the threats made to Di María in March.
The intimidation, carried out in a private neighborhood on the outskirts of Rosario, consisted of throwing a bag containing a card with the legend “Di María Family” and a note that said “Not even (Maximiliano) Pullaro will save you,” in reference to the governor of Santa Fe.
In April, a 35-year-old man and a 23-year-old woman were charged as material authors and remain in prison.
A security spokesman told AFP that after the arrests of Ficadenti and Di Vanni, seven raids were carried out in which “more than 20 million pesos” (around 20,000 dollars) and eight cell phones were seized.
Background
Ficadenti had been charged two years ago with participating in the murder of the then head of the Newell’s hooligans, Nelson “Chivo” Saravia, who was shot dead in October 2021.
The court then ordered him to be held in preventive detention for 60 days, the Public Prosecution Office (MPA) reported.
Jorgelina Cardoso, Di Maria’s wife, said last week that what was publicly known about the threats did not represent the entirety of what happened.
“It’s not nonsense, people know half of it, things happened that are not known. It’s very delicate and very ‘heavy’,” he said.
Source: AFP
