Dario Šimić arrested as part of an anti-corruption probe in Tisno

The former Croatian international moved onto business ventures after his playing career, and was an active member of the Croatian Association of Hotel Employers (HUREKA) for years.

Former national football player Dario Šimić has been arrested as part of an anti-corruption operation by the USKOK anti-corruption office and the police. Apparently the arrest deals with an illegally obtained permit for a tourist camping grounds in the town of Tisno near Šibenik. Also arrested was the former head of the Tourism Department at the Service for Economy and Property Affairs of the State Administration Office of Šibenik-Knin County, Neda Livljanić. Šibenik-Knin County Prefect Paško Rakić: “This is a relatively embarrassing situation for Šibenik-Knin County given the fact that one of the suspects arrested was a long-time county employee in the tourism department. The fact is that these are loose ends from the past. As an institution, we in the county are in daily communication with representatives of judicial institutions. We do have an administrative department that is strictly monitoring these kinds of things, especially given previous debacles. And obviously we are in constant contact with the economy and tourism ministries, and we regularly conduct internal revisions, so I'm confident that won't happen in the future.”

Šimić has since been questioned by USKOK investigators, and according to his lawyer Ivan Stanić, has rejected the allegations against him. Stanić added that while he is not at liberty to discuss the actual charges against his client, he does not see any reason for pretrial detention: “What I can tell you is that Dario Šimić maintains that he is not guilt, not for the why he was brought here today, nor for anything else, because he has never done anything illegal. I truly don't see why there would be a need for investigative custody in the specific case. Mr. Šimić is the kind of person, an athlete, for whom there is any reason for anyone to call for investigative custody.”

Šimić, a devout Catholic, played his club career for Dinamo Zagreb, Inter Milan, AC Milan, and Monaco, and was the first Croatian player in history to be capped 100 times.

Source: HRT