Mauro Scaloni, brother of the Argentine national team coach, investigated for extortion

Mauro Scaloni, brother of the technical director of the Argentine soccer team, Lionel Scaloni, is being investigated in a case for “extortion and coercive threats,” as reported by the Buenos Aires City Police.

Scaloni, 47, was detained this Thursday while on his way to the United States Embassy in the Argentine capital to complete a procedure and was notified of his indictment in the case.

The agents also seized his mobile phone.

The police assured that Scaloni, who lives in the province of Santa Fe, on the Argentine coast, was in Buenos Aires because he had a "turn to obtain his wife's VISA", a document necessary to travel to the North American country.

It was there where personnel from the Anti-Drug Division detained him around 11 in the morning (local time) to notify him, kidnapped his mobile phone and then let him go.

Scaloni was delayed within the framework of other operations that were carried out in different cities of the country in recent days and that are part of an investigation carried out by prosecutor Viviana O'Connell of the Investigation and Trial Unit of the Rosario Regional Prosecutor's Office "in "in relation to acts of extortion, threats, coercion and digital violence."

According to authorities, nine people in total are under investigation following a complaint.

In these procedures, which were carried out in the towns of Rosario, Pujato and Zavalla, in the province of Santa Fe, the authorities seized “material of interest” to the case and “electronic and storage devices.”

Investigators have reported that in the raids they also found three firearms that “were seized to determine if they have valid documentation.”

“The analysis of the seized materials is part of the next procedural steps of the investigation,” they reported in a statement.

Mauro Scaloni is the older brother of Lionel Scaloni, who led the Argentine team in the last World Cup, in Qatar, where the Albiceleste was world champion in 2022. Like the technical director of the Argentine team, Mauro trained at Newell's Old Boys more than two decades ago, he played for Estudiantes de La Plata and traveled to Europe, where he was part of the Deportivo Fabril squad while his brother played for Deportivo La Coruña, according to the

newspaper .

Mauro's football career, unlike that of his brother, was short-lived and less successful.

Currently, he lives in his hometown, Pujato, and his main activity is agriculture, according to national media reports.

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