Luka Modrić testifies in Zdravko Mamić trial

Just one day after leading Croatia to victory over Czechia in Osijek, Luka Modrić appeared on the witness stand on Tuesday at the Osijek County Court. 

The team captain testified in the ongoing trial of former Dinamo Zagreb director Zdravko Mamić - once the most powerful figure in Croatian football - who faces charges of corruption and tax fraud.

Modrić told the court he was not involved in negotiating his 2008 transfer to Tottenham Hotspur, which was arranged by Mamić. He also confirmed signing a separate civil contract with Mamić back in 2005-a document the defense has now entered into evidence.

"I do not have it (the contract) and as far as I remember, it was signed at a notary public's office in Sesvete. Honestly, I did not read it. At the time, I had a great relationship with Zdravko and I trusted him with everything. He took care of my along with the agency, so I did not read it and I cannot say what was its duration,” said Modrić.

Prosecutors allege that Modrić handed over a large chunk of his transfer fee in cash to Mamić, money that should have gone to Dinamo.

In the second Mamić corruption case, referred to as Dinamo 2, prosecutors charge that in addition to Zdravko and his brother Zoran Mamić, who are evading Croatian authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina and are being tried in absentia, the indictment includes Zdravko's son Mario Mamić, former Dinamo director Damir Vrbanović, businessmen Sandro Stipančić and Igor Krota, and Modrić’s manager Nikky Arthur Vuksan.

Mario Mamić, Stipančić, Krota, and Vuksan previously agreed to take plea deals and have been sentenced. Given that Zdravko and Zoran Mamić are in Bosnia and Herzegovina, only Vrbanović is appearing in court as a defendant.

Prosecutors have charged Zdravko Mamić with organizing the other defendants into a criminal association from December 2004 to December 2015 and inflicting financial damages to the club by entering into fictitious contracts between Dinamo and several foreign companies from Great Britain, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, Hong Kong, Gibraltar and the USA, and by issuing invoices for non-existent services for player transfers, which Dinamo paid for.

In the amended indictment, USKOK charges Zdravko Mamić and the other defendants with causing NK Dinamo 25.8 million euros in damages through criminal acts, and with the Zagreb club being unfoundedly obliged to pay another million euros. The prosecution charges the defendants with dividing this money among themselves and using it for their own needs.