Alhaji Righteous De Ambitious: World Cup 2010 Blog: Life Lessons: Sit Down, Shut Up, Behave

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

World Cup 2010 Blog: Life Lessons: Sit Down, Shut Up, Behave

Posted: 08 Mar 2011 11:33 AM PST

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Back in the fall, some Serbian hooligans caused a ruckus at the Marassi in Genoa where the Serbian and Italian national teams were to embark on one of the better fixtures during Euro 2012. And it really should’ve been one of the best games, if only on paper, during qualifying. Which is probably why said hooligans were given such stiff penalties for the troubles they caused on that day.

This on top of the 3-0 victory handed to Italy for showing up, watching some flares and handing their shirts into the crowd.

So that makes the Faroe Islands and Serbian hooligans the only things which can ship three goals to Italy.

Ivan Bogdanov, who earned the nickname Ivan the Terrible, was the figurehead at Marassi during the match that was called off on October 12.

Serb hooligans were determined to stop the game going ahead and invaded the team bus before kick-off, then threw fireworks and broke down barriers in the Stadio Luigi Ferraris.

The tribunal in Genoa today passed a sentence of three years and three months for Bogdanov, plus Nikola Klickovis got three years, Daniel Ianic two years and eight months, while Srdan Iovetic's sentence was two years and six months. However, due to the notoriously complex Italian justice system, it is unclear how much real jail time they will have.

‘Ivan the Terrible’ seems a little strong; seems like ‘Ivan the Extraordinary Inconvenience’ or something more mild.

But is this not enough warning for those in Italian stadiums to behave? The next game inside the peninsula should look like A Putting Green: The Opera.