Danilo Ikodinović

{{Infobox sportsperson

|image=

|image_size=

|birth_date= {{birth date and age|1976|10|04|df=y}}

|birth_place= Belgrade, SFR Yugoslavia

|death_date=

|death_place=

|medaltemplates={{MedalSport | Men's Water Polo}}

{{MedalCountry|{{SCG}}
{{SRB}}}}

}}

Danilo “Dača” Ikodinović ({{lang-sr-cyrl|Данило Дача Икодиновић}}, born 4 October 1976) is a Serbian former professional water polo player who played on the bronze medal squad at the 2000 Summer Olympics (with Yugoslavia) and the silver medal squad at the 2004 Summer Olympics (with Serbia and Montenegro). He received a Golden Badge, award for the best athlete in Serbia and Montenegro.

Club career

He spent the 2005/06 season playing for VK Partizan. He appeared for the Serbian national water polo team in 304 matches, scoring 299 goals. In 2006, he appeared as a model in an underwear campaign for ExtremeIntimo. During the summer of 2006 he signed for Russian club Sintez Kazan. In his first season in Sintez Kazan, Ikodinović led the team to 2006/07 LEN Cup trophy[https://archive.today/20120906003953/http://www.mtsmondo.com/sport/football/story.php?vest=58149 Vaterpolo: Ruski Sintez osvojio LEN kup, MTS Mondo, May 24, 2007] as well as the Russian league title. In late March 2008, he reached an agreement with PVK Jadran to play for them in 2008/09 season.[https://archive.today/20120907011031/http://www.novosti.rs/code/navigate.php?Id=13&status=jedna&vest=118843&datum=2008-04-01 Dača na Jadranu, Večernje novosti, March 31, 2008]

=Clubs he played for=

1992–1998 VK Partizan
1998–1999 ASN Catania
1999–2001 AN Brescia
2001–2005 Pro Recco
2005–2006 VK Partizan
2006–2008 Sintez
2008–2009 PVK Jadran

Honours

=Club=

VK Partizan

National Championship of Yugoslavia (1): 1994–95
National Cup of Yugoslavia (3): 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95
LEN Cup (1): 1997–98

Pro Recco

Serie A1 (1): 2001–02
Trofeo del Giocatore (1): 2003
LEN Euroleague (1): 2002–03
LEN Supercup (1): 2004

Sintez Kazan

National Championship of Russia (1): 2006–07
LEN Cup (1): 2006–07

=Individual=

LEN Euroleague Final Four MVP (1): 2003 Genova
Golden Badge (1): 2005

Politics

Ikodinović endorsed the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) for the 2018 Belgrade City Assembly election, however, later he became a strong critic of SNS and its leader Aleksandar Vučić.{{Cite web|date=2020-07-15|title=Ikodinović o podršci Vučićevoj listi: Ispao sam pi*da!|url=https://nova.rs/sport/ostalo/ikodinovic-o-podrsci-vucicevoj-listi-ispao-sam-pida/|access-date=2021-03-17|website=NOVA portal|language=en-US}} On 17 March 2021, Ikodinović joined the People's Party (NS) and was appointed president of its Sports Committee.{{Cite web|date=2021-03-17|title=Ikodinović i Koroman u Odboru Narodne stranke za sport|url=https://rs.n1info.com/vesti/ikodinovic-i-koroman-u-odboru-narodne-stranke-za-sport/|access-date=2021-03-17|website=N1|language=sr-RS}}

Personal

In 2000, Ikodinović married his girlfriend Anja who later that year gave birth to their daughter Andrea. The couple divorced in 2003.[http://www.kurir-info.rs/clanak/sport/kurir-30-06-2008/tesko-nam-je Teško nam je, Kurir, June 30, 2008] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090504204240/http://www.kurir-info.rs/clanak/sport/kurir-30-06-2008/tesko-nam-je |date=May 4, 2009 }}

For a few months during 2004, he dated professional karate fighter Snežana Perić. The relationship was high-profile with coverage in Serbian tabloids and lifestyle magazines.[http://www.svet.rs/?state=3&izdanje=2&broj=365&clanak=4288 Snežana Perić predala meč Dači Ikodinoviću!, Svet, June 18, 2004]

Later that year Ikodinović began a relationship with Serbian pop singer Nataša Bekvalac. Once the relationship became public on New Year's 2005[http://arhiva.kurir-info.rs/arhiva/2005/januar/06-09/ST-03-06012005.shtml Odlepio čovek!, Kurir, January 8, 2005] it inspired even more press coverage. In July 2006 the couple married in Sremski Karlovci. They have a daughter named Hana who was born in March 2007 while Danilo was playing with the Serbia national team at the World Championships in Melbourne.[https://archive.today/20120719195047/http://www.blic.co.rs/zabava.php?id=2638 Hana više voli Natašu, Blic, April 30, 2007] The couple divorced in January 2011.

In 2013, thirty-six-year-old retired professional athlete Ikodinović started dating the active professional volleyball player Maja Ognjenović, 8 years his junior. The couple married in late December 2016.[https://www.kurir.rs/sport/ostali-sportovi/2615485/kurir-saznaje-vencali-se-daca-ikodinovic-i-maja-ognjenovic "Ognjenovic gets married to former water polo player Danilo Ikodinovic"]

=Motorcycle accident=

On Friday, 27 June 2008, around 8:20pm, while riding his Yamaha R1 motorcycle on the Zrenjanin-Novi Sad regional road, Ikodinović was involved in a traffic accident near the town of Kać. The thirty-one-year-old professional water polo player was transferred to intensive care in Novi Sad where he got immediately taken in for surgery that ended up lasting almost eight hours. As a result, his condition was stabilized, but remained critical.[http://mtsmondo.com/sport/vesti/text.php?vest=101560 Najvažniji meč Dače Ikodinovića, MTS Mondo, June 28, 2008] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080628181758/http://www.mtsmondo.com/sport/vesti/text.php?vest=101560 |date=June 28, 2008 }} Reportedly, of the numerous injuries he sustained, the heaviest trauma occurred on his right arm with severe tearing of blood vessels (nerves and arteries).[https://archive.today/20120802113744/http://www.blic.co.rs/hronika.php?id=47365 Borba za život Danila Ikodinovića, Blic, June 29, 2008]

The next day, in the evening hours of 28 June 2008, almost twenty four hours following the accident, he underwent another vascular surgery on his arm.[http://www.b92.net/sport/vaterpolo/vesti.php?yyyy=2008&mm=06&dd=28&nav_id=306114 Ikodinović ponovo operisan, B92, June 28, 2008] His condition has since improved.

Investigation of the crash completed by mid November 2008, determining that Ikodinović had been driving at a speed of 173 km/h while having blood alcohol content of over 2 per mil (considered to be the medium level of alcoholic intoxication) when he rear-ended the Yugo driven by Pajica Dejanović that had just begun overtaking a tractor vehicle driven by Miroslav Kukić.[http://www.blic.rs/hronika.php?id=65804 Završena istraga nesreće kod Kaća - Ikodinović vozio 173 na sat, Blic, November 17, 2008] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090131091843/http://www.blic.rs/hronika.php?id=65804 |date=January 31, 2009 }}

Ikodinović was charged with violating traffic safety. On 5 March 2009, his case went before a Novi Sad Municipal Court judge[http://www.mtsmondo.com/news/vesti/text.php?vest=122775 Dača Ikodinović pred sudom 5. marta, MTS Mondo, January 28, 2009] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090130065958/http://mtsmondo.com/news/vesti/text.php?vest=122775 |date=January 30, 2009 }} who ruled him guilty of causing the accident and ordered him to pay RSD70,000 (around €760 according to the exchange rate at the time). Ikodinović also received an eight-month ban on operating a motorcycle.[http://www.story.rs/intervju/3860-danilo-ikodinovic-sve-ono-o-cemu-sam-cutao.html Danilo Ikodinović: Sve ono o čemu sam ćutao..., Story, June 2009] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090630015421/http://www.story.rs/intervju/3860-danilo-ikodinovic-sve-ono-o-cemu-sam-cutao.html |date=2009-06-30 }} District public persecutor submitted an appeal on the court's decision due to not being satisfied with the amount of the fine.

The damages part of the case was settled out of court on 26 May 2009, which is when Ikodinović paid a sum to Pajica Dejanović that was in some media outlets reported to be €6,000.