Former warlord sent henchmen to spray meddling UEFA-crat with bullets. Gulp!

The Serbian television station B92 has reported that the late Serbian psychopath and terrorist Arkan, who was wanted for war crimes by the International Tribunal in the Hague when he was himself shot dead in 1999, should have had another charge added to his record of infamy: the attempted assassination of former UEFA President Lennart Johansson.

In 1998, Arkan, real name Zeljko Raznatovic, liked to wind down from spreading terror throughout the Balkans by spreading terror through Serbian football as owner of FC Obilic. Indeed, so successful was his campaign of intimidation, which involved tricks such as locking opposition players in a garage when Obilic came to town, that his side qualified for the Champions League in 1998 and were drawn to face Bayern Munich.

As a man used to getting his own way, often using weaponry to support his argument, Arkan didn’t take it too well when UEFA President Johansson announced that he would not be permitted to direct his team from the dugout during the tie in Munich.

The fact that as a wanted man Arkan was unlikely to travel to Munich anyway was neither here nor there. That Johansson had the nerve to say no to Arkan was an insult so grave that only the Swede’s death could restore his wounded pride.

In an interview with B92, Mr Johansson said he was aware of the possibility that mercenaries might try and kill him in Vienna, although rather calmly said “I was worried that something might happen. But if some lunatic wants to kill you, there’s not much you can do.”

According to sources, the mercenaries contracted by Arkan to carry out the hit only failed to carry out their mission because they “couldn’t find the right moment.”