Here is all you need to know about Serbia’s football fan Ivan Bogdanov, dubbed as Ivan the Terrible expected to target England fans ahead of EURO 2024
Football is back soon as the European Championship finallu arrives, however, it also brings some fear with it.
German police are bracing for chaos in response to reports that up to 500 Serbian hooligans would attend England’s opening Euro 2024 play, a report in The Sun stated.
UEFA has designated Sunday’s encounter as one of four “high-risk” games. The fixture is expected to gather 40,000 fans of the English side and up to 8,000 guests from Serbia.
Who is football fan Ivan Bogdanov Serbia’s fiercest hooligan dubbed as “Ivan the Terrible”
However, hateful Serbian hooligan gangs are not likely to welcome England supporters with such warmth. It comes after concerns of an assault by Serbian extremists or ultras, among them a renowned thug.
Some supporters of the current Serbian league winners, Red Star Belgrade, identify as “ultras,” and many of them are affiliated with the far-right pro-Russian groups Delije or Strongmen.
There is a history of violent occurrences involving football supporters in Serbia. Organized crime groups’ hooligan gangs have been connected to kidnapping, r*pe, and even murder cases, a report in Daily Mail stated.
A Serbia vs. Albania match was cancelled in 2014 after a particularly violent incident in which fans invaded the field and began attacking players.
During a 2010 Euro 2012 qualifying match against Italy in Genoa, Bogdanov recruited supporters to attack rival fans and police, as well as to damage barricades separating them.
Fourteen Serbian hooligans were jailed for their conduct after Brice Taton, a French football fan, was killed by beating in Belgrade in 2009. A few British officers will also be in the city to monitor known English hooligans and those under restriction.
German police have been working with Belgrade and London authorities to try and avoid bad incidents during the game and outside the stadium.
Who is Ivan Bogdanov?
Football fan Ivan Bogdanov, dubbed as Ivan the Terrible is Serbia’s fiercest hooligan who was imprisoned for his violent actions and inciting riots during major football matches specially the Euro.
The tattooed man was once caught burning flags in a 2010 match at the Genoa Stadio Comunale Luigi Ferraris stadium, the game which was abandoned later as he incited launching fireworks towards the Italian fans.