GENOA, 13 October 2010 – His name is Ivan: the most wanted of the Serbian hooligans at the Marassi was snapped by photographers just a few minutes after his arrest. You may first have seen him wearing a balaclava, sitting astride the fence around the away fans area before the Italy-Serbia match. Having cut and climbed the fence, his enormous body and tattoos on full display, he threw flares onto the pitch and into the North Stand. However, his tattoos were his Achilles heal.
MANHUNT — This was because the police hunted him half the night, after the trouble caused by Serbian hooligans, which extended from the stands into the small square in front of the stadium, where the coaches were waiting after the match. A gate forced by the fans, clashes with police, who then received reinforcements, forcing every one to get back on the coaches. Ivan too, the “man in black”, the chief bootboy, the tattooed man. A 28, a Red Star, and a hand grenade indelibly printed onto his body. And then the long search began. Police made each passenger get off one by one. They then told all the fans take off their T-shirts, looking for the tattoos captured by the TV cameras. But they found nothing. So the coaches began to leave the Marassi and an evening that had turned into a nightmare for the fans and players. However, they went without him because he had to still be there somewhere or other.
THE LAST COACH — Anyhow, it was 2.30 am and although the passengers who were once again searched, showed off their many tattoos, they weren’t the right ones. So all the Serbian fans had been checked, that is, all bar one. Ivan. He was found at 2.41am in the coach's baggage compartment. Amidst applause and insults from bystanders, the hulking great man was tackled by a number of police and dragged, together with his bags containing hundreds of flares, back into the bowels of the stadium. Now a few hours after looking down on everyone, he sat there, handcuffed.