An April Fools Day joke in Croatia almost caused a riot when angry football fans took to the streets. An online news agency claimed that the country could be banned from the 2006 World Cup unless they handed over General Ante Gotovina, who is wanted for war crimes. The story quoted Sepp Blatter as saying: "It is clear that Croats care about football more than about anything else. In contact with EU Council of Ministers, we have decided to ban Croatia from World Cup before the country extradites the fugitive general Ante Gotovina." Unfortunately, fans failed to look at their calendars and headed into the streets to protest all over the country, including Pakostone, where Gotovina was born. Local police spokesman Zlatko Mehun said: "There was a large gathering outside his former home. It was very heated but peaceful, and I have heard that there were also large gatherings in Zagreb and angry scenes, but I don't believe there were any arrests."
