Vladimir Micov defends Ataman on his Marko Ivkovic incident comment / News - Basketnews.com

Micov provided information on what Ataman had seen before making the infamous comment about Crvena Zvezda fans. The player doesn't condone the comment but thinks Ataman has nothing against Serbian people and that his tongue was just faster than his mind.

Credit: Fotodiena.lt/E.Blaževičius, Basketnews/D.Lukšta Credit Fotodiena.lt/E.Blaževičius, Basketnews/D.Lukšta

The incident between fans of Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade and Galatasaray Istanbul when a Serbian supporter was stabbed to death is still a topic that sparks furious reactions. A player who saw it first-hand has come out to shed some light on what transpired.

Points this season

46%77,2Points made:77,2Accuracy:46,0%Place in standings:14Record max:94Record min:56Best scorer:Nemanja NedovicTeamEuroLeagueStatisticsSchedule

Before the EuroLeague game between the clubs, the fanbases clashed near the venue. In the middle of the fight between the groups, a Zvezda supporter -- Marko Ivkovic -- was stabbed by a Galatasaray fan.

After the game, then Galatasaray's head coach Ergin Ataman, who now coaches Anadolu Efes Istanbul, was asked to comment on the clash between the two teams' supporters. That's when the Turkish specialist said the words he would regret for years, calling Crvena Zvezda fans terrorists.

It caused an international incident between the countries of Serbia and Turkey. 8 years after it happened, a former member of Zvezda's youth team Vladimir Micov, who played for Galatasaray back then, sat down at the Aleksandar Stojanovic's podcast "ALESTO" and revealed how he saw the situation.

"I didn't play in that game because I had had a small operation before. We all lived close by and we'd always come early. I came an hour earlier, as did Ataman," he began. "There were a lot of fans, various information circulated in the media. I saw that many of our fans came to Istanbul by bus. They were taking pictures around the city, they were under the influence of alcohol, which of course is normal."

"The general manager of Galatasaray told me that the fans did not have tickets and they asked for them, the club said that they could not guarantee their safety, that everything must be provided, that there was a procedure, and so on... They came in front of the hall and that's where the fuss started. Ataman came before the game and saw the crowd and unfortunately said that... Far be it from me to defend the man but he has nothing against Serbs," Micov said.

Vladimir Micov

Position:SF, PFAge:38Height:203 cmWeight:100 kgBirth place:SerbiaProfileNewsStatistics

Later on, Micov shared that he doesn't think Ataman has any kind of animosity toward the Serbian players or the Serbian people in general.

"Now, he has Vasa Micic, he had [Milan] Macvan, [Zoran] Erceg, me... Well, [he's had a lot of] people from the Balkans and he really has nothing against us. And Misko [Raznatovic] is his manager. It's not that he hates Serbs. Simply, his tongue was faster than his mind and he didn't see what happened, he only saw the fuss," Micov explained.

"There was a fight but no murder [has happened yet]. He said what he said, and since then they taken him to heart... Erceg and I were asked to take a picture with the flags of Serbia and of Turkey, we did it because I know his opinion about our people, but what he said was not appropriate. However, he did not see what happened," the player concluded.

When Galatasaray arrived to play in the Top 16 in January, the entire then-Kombank Arena was filled with cards with the phrase "Živiš" - "You will live". At the same time, a huge message was portrayed all over the venue with one phrase:

"The heart of a hero lives forever, they cannot kill him, the heart of a hero lives forever, for Zvezda, for the north, for Serbia."

The entire Marko Ivkovic story with how and why it happened, coupled with background stories from the time and the impact it had both then and now can be found in a BN+ exclusive articlehere.

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