Englishman Daniel Jarvis has become notorious for evading security at sports stadiums around the world.
While Yorkshire may have banned him for life from entering the Headingley Cricket Ground in Leeds, the pitch intruder Jarvo has started raiding other sports and stadiums around the UK after the England-India Test series in August-September.
The serial pitch invader known as ‘Jarvo 69’ joined Japan’s lineup for the national anthems against Ireland on Sunday, November 7th in Dublin – a week after gatecrashing the All Blacks’ pre-match ceremony in Wales. This time, he was spotted at the end of the Japanese line at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium wearing a Japan replica jersey with ‘Jarvo 69’ emblazoned on the back. After the Kimi Ga Yo anthem was over, Jarvo was led away by stadium stewards.
Jarvo first rose to fame earlier this year when he breached the security at the iconic Lord's cricket stadium during a Test match between India and England. Just after the fall of Rohit Sharma’s wicket, ‘Jarvo 69’ was seen popping up from the gallery located on one side of the sight screen, wearing batting pads and a blue helmet with a surgical face mask on.
Someone from the crowd also threw a cricket bat as he entered the field of play and reached the pitch to take guard when the ground security personnel intercepted him. He was promptly evicted from the Headingley premises. Asked what kind of measures will be taken to avoid such embarrassment which has now happened twice in the same venue, the spokesperson said: “As on previous days, there will be stewards present around there to stop anyone that attempts to get on.”
Jarvis was last seen at the Principality Stadium last weekend in an All Blacks jersey ahead of the Wales-New Zealand game. Jarvo said after the game that he wasn't even arrested for the incident.
"When I got there, there weren't any stewards at the bottom of the steps. Then all the stewards came, and I was like, 'No!', but then one moved. So I had to quickly take my jacket off, walk down and jump over, but I forgot about the mask! That gave it away. If I'd got on there without the mask, I think I'd have been there a lot longer," Jarvis said.
While no one finds these capers amusing, they do ask questions about in-stadium security if someone as recognisable as Mr Jarvis can saunter onto the pitch in consecutive weeks in such high-profile sporting events. Jarvo said in the same interview he has never been fined for his "pranks". It's the troublemaker's SIXTH stunt of the year after he previously interrupted three England cricket matches, an NFL game and the rugby last week.
Earlier this year, Jarvo 69 invaded the pitch at an NFL match between Jacksonville Jaguars and Miami Dolphins in London. The incident occurred at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, where the game between the Jaguars and the Dolphins was taking place. Jarvo was seen invading the ground in a Jaguars jersey. After Jarvo invaded the pitch, the video of the incident started doing rounds on social media with fans slamming him for breaking the momentum of the game.
"When I first started doing it.... That one, I was panicking," he said about a stunt during a diving event at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. "My whole body was like, 'Don't do it. Don't do it!' But I was like, 'If you can't do this, you're going to be a nobody'. That gave me a mad adrenalin rush. I've got more experience in it now, and I don't get it as much as I used to."
For Jarvis, this is just another day for his YouTube antics and pranks. For the larger sporting world, pitch invading shows how there has to be much more strict measures when it comes to players' safety while on the pitch.