UPDATED: Zdravko Mamić held a press conference today in Mostar as a fugitive from Croatian authorities. He commented on the recently passed final verdict sentencing him to six and a half years in prison.
The former Dinamo boss commented on the verdict and how Luka Modrić and Dejan Lovren, who received money from him, should also be punished.
“My brother and I have not been convicted of a single kuna in taxes. Luka Modrić and Dejan Lovren have received the cash charged to me. Luka Modrić still has millions of euros in that account, which he shared with me as an investor through a private contract. I took him as a refugee.We met and signed a money-sharing agreement, he withdrew the money, gave part to me. No player has ever paid a single penny of tax. The only one to pay is Dinamo. If the Mamić brothers have to return the money, then Lovren and Luka Modrić must return it as well.
They are accomplices, they have the money, they came to court, they said – we signed the annexes. Either we are in this together together or no one is,” -Zdravko Mamić from his press conference Tuesday.
Both Zdravko and Zoran Mamić have been found guilty for embezzlement and tax evasion (among other things) by the Croatian Supreme Court, CroatiaWeek reports, and are scheduled to do prison time: Zdravko 6.5 years; Zoran 4.5 years. Zoran Mamić has resigned as head coach of Dinamo Zagreb, effective immediately, and has scheduled a 1PM (Zagreb time) press conference for Tuesday, March 16th.
Zdravko has been hiding in Hercegovina since the charges were handed to him two years ago while Zoran has been the manager of Dinamo Zagreb this season, helping lead the team to the Europa League Round of 16. Zdravko has run a tight ship at Dinamo for the past 15 years and is being accused for funneling funds away from the club illegally.
Mamic pissed off enough people along the way to the top and when the pieces fall there is no net now- he’s going down – pretty plain to see- his defense of Lovern and Modric is laughable – their national heroes – there is no touching them – that’s without question- so he stands alone and his freedom is on the brink- life story- hard to get to the top- fast free fall on your way down- did Mamic think it would end any other way?
Mamic pissed off enough people along the way to the top and when the pieces fall there is no net now- he’s going down – pretty plain to see- his defense of Lovern and Modric is laughable – their national heroes – there is no touching them – that’s without question- so he stands alone and his freedom is on the brink- life story- hard to get to the top- fast free fall on your way down- did Mamic think it would end any other way?
Mamić is a funny and intelligent fellow, however I totally agree with Rafael as there are much bigger criminals in Croatia than Mamić who keep a low profile and likely will never see a day of prison.
That said and had Mamić not been on the run, there is no way that Croatia would have finished in second place at the 2018 WC. As we have seen many times in the past with coaches benching superior players at major tournaments to showcase Dinamo players. for ex: Bilić benching Šimunić in favor of Schildenfeld at the Euros when we were in the group with Spain and Italy. that made absolutely no sense and who knows how the tournament would have developed had big Joe played instead.
The apologists on here make me sick. Disgraceful Croats who want to give these two a pass? No thanks. They’re crooks and criminals in the spotlight. Nice to see them getting taken down. Just wish they would do that all across the country and in all facets.
Mamic brothers are trash.
But with some of these things that Mamic “did” – I’d be curious as to his involvement. Sure, you have the Dudu, Modric and Vrsaljko stories, but what role did Mamic play in those initial transactions?
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Also, regarding the charges for Mamic, I think some of us are clouded by what laws they broke/what they were charged with and the Mamic ‘public persona’. Does Mamic deserved to be jailed on his persona alone, of course not. But if you look at what he was charged with, the laws in place, the proof provided and sentences for typically associated for breaking those laws – I don’t know, maybe he is? It’s hard to truly get all the details around the case (at least for me).
@slavonac well said
As far as I know, Zvone has never tried to be anything at Dinamo. If you ask the coaches, the directors, even look at the last video Ante posted with Romeo Jozak…they all say Mamic did everything possible to help setup and improve the youth program. Who’s ever seen a program in Croatia like the one Dinamo has and fully supported by Mamic.
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Modric basically went to ZG as a refugee, after being passed on by Hajduk. Da Silva failed in Italy and as a 15/16 year old he was given a home and an opportunity at Dinamo…all this was done by Mamic! How did Vrsaljko end up at Dinamo, the natural course for any dalmatinac is to go to Hajduk.
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You have to give credit where it’s due.
@Slavonac Why would things go bad for Dinamo + Croatia. He hasn’t developed players. He is the biznis man who relies on scouts and contacts. He then would sign these players to his management contracts. He would then dictate who coaches Dinamo. And once a player was ready Dinamo would sell and he would profit. He is the top of the factory chain.
Could Zvonimir Boban or someone else not run Dinamo and keep them succesful? Just curious. I must admit he has turned Dinamo into a success. I just think someone else could grow upon this success or at least maintain. Albeit with the right person( and we both know thats hard in Croatia). I just think Mamic and co have prevented a clean cut soccer director like Zvone Boban from being involved with Dinamo.
this topic has tons of interest and very few people know most of the important details…including me.
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All I can say is if Mamic is completely stopped from being allowed to manage or run Dinamo, things could go bad for Dinamo and Croatia.
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I have not seen a single person outside of BBB or Hajduk fans claim he should go to jail…and most of the Hajduk fans want him in jail because they say he fixed games while their club is still losing and have nobody to blame. BBB were and always will be good and bad. They do nice things for charity and the community, they try to meddle too much into the club. Thankfully, Dinamo delegates don’t allow it like Hajduk delegates do, trying to appease the hooligans!
Your concern for Hajduk is so heartfelt armada hahaha
Jail time for mamic is a bit extreme in my view
Well, I tried looking at this from a ‘glass half full’ POV for all the Hajduk faithful on here… LOL
I’m sorry but if Gorica has a 15-point gap above you, then you’re still a mid-table team. 🙂
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Hajduk is closer to relegation than they are to moving up one place in the standings.
@Maminjo
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Now now. Hajduk have an EXCELLENT shot this year of finishing ahead of Rijeka domestically for the first time in a decade (11-12). Baby steps! Mid table team no more!
We all agree there are tons of corrupt $ cash grabbing individuals invlolved in football in Hrvatska and all over the world. But Zdravko Mamic had the loudest mouth. They went after the biggest fish with the loudest mouth. It is what it is. Keeping quiet and not running your mouth goes a long way if your business practices are not clean and white collar.
Osijek and Gorica *
The Hajduk penalty call thing is getting out of hand lol.
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The last few Hajduk vs Dinamo games were heavily biased in favor of Hajduk. Maybe all the complaints are getting to the refs, and now it’s going in the opposite direction lol.
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Hajduk isn’t losing games because of Mamić. Putting him behind bars won’t do anything for them in the win column.
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I think most Hajduk fans can see this now.
I guess falling behind Osijek and (and being a mid table team for years) is a sobering moment.
Yes Maminjo, you make several good points and I agree with you.
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Cracking down on crimes is one thing, using political strength to destroy your enemy is another. There are many communists and political agendas tied into these types of topics…there is NO level field to play on. If I’m in power and you are the enemy, I will try to destroy you…and thats exactly what happened in this case. Soo many people are corrupt in the Croatian government and outside of the government…for someone to hand pick the biggest mouth in the country and find him guilty of crimes that are regularly committed by a huge percentage of people is just politics.
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A friend of mine posted a short video this morning. It was a video of Hajduk getting robbed a penalty shot in 2015 vs Dinamo. This is his justification…this is why he believe’s Mamic deserves to be behind bars…because his club was robbed and he said it happened every weekend.
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Maybe he’s right…I honestly don’t know BUT I see it in every league and I saw it recently in Italy, Spain, England….most big teams get the calls. We saw it at the 2018 World Cup vs France!
It is a good thing that the Supreme Court upheld the convictions against the brothers Mamic.
It is a better use of scant resources to go after the biggest fish. It indicates to others that no one is immune from prosecution, and hopefully (maybe a naive hope) deters others from engaging in illegal financial transactions.
On a broader scale, it is a small victory against corruption and incompetence that plagues Croatia. Like what happened to a relative, who was shuffled from one department to another at the local government level in Zagorje, trying to obtain certain documents. Everything was quickly settled when she opened up her wallet. Or a friend who moved to Croatia, obtained a job with a government administered agency, but was ostracized by her co-workers because she actually tried to work and do a proper job. I’m sure everyone on this site has experienced or knows of similar stories.
Croatia’s population is rapidly decreasing. Many young people are leaving for financial reasons, but also because of how poorly the country is run. I think the court decision is a small step in the right direction.
Hercegovici are the biggest Hrvati and the biggest criminals lol
Sad day they did a lot for Croatian soccer tax evasion is a national sport. Taxes are made so complicated for the rich anyone could be found guilty hope their sentences are commuted at some point. These sentences are more political then legal nothing too be happy about. The biggest sin in Croatia is being successful and the Mamic brothers definitely where successful. The other thing that bothers me is this anti Hercegovina strain about the whole corruption case. For me there is no Croatia without Hercegovina.
@Slavonac
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Speaking to most Croats (ones who actually live there), not many care or think that Mamić is a major source of Dinamo and Croatian football’s problems.
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I’m sure he is guilty of tax evasion, and conflicts of interest with his son being a player agent… But I’m sure this is so commonplace in Croatian football (to the point where it’s hard to determine who is guilty of what).
If you have rules, then enforce them. Otherwise, you can’t just go after the loud and abnoxious ones only.
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It makes no sense that Štimac is free of any charge (or even players like Pletikosa and Srna) who took part in these things. I’m sure it would take about 15 minutes to find irregularities in Hajduk’s books.
Istra’s American former owner (Glover) was pulling scams for sure. Probably laundering money there. I’m sure Rijeka quietly being taken over by Teanna (a company solely owned by Mišković) was on purpose, to avoid too many media questions. Very little details made public on that purchase, and done so quickly and quietly. I’m sure Osijek being owned by Victor Orban’s buddy has some conflicts of interest… Like the Hungarian government partially paying for Osijek’s new stadium (wtf?).
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Remember when Hrvoje Maleš wore a wire to expose all the bribes that happened with the referees in the HNL? … only for it to be for nothing, since every team gives cash to the refs lol.
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If we wanna run things strict and by the book, then do it across the board. Gotta go after the quiet ones too.
Mamic was the Croatian Donald Trump.
He took on the fake news and a patriot.
So why hasn’t Zoran skipped the country like his older brother
The timing again before the euros is terrible
The death of Croatian football
Not sure as it’s in our genes
So ends our most glorious era of Football.
I salute you Mammy ZDS!
Well the good news is that Bjelica has a clear path as Dalić’s successor for NT coach (there was always a risk of Zoran being a surprise candidate).
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The bad news is that, despite Mamić being a Trump like character (that turns many people off) he was probably responsible for a lot of Dinamo’s success that benefitted our National Team.
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I don’t think Dinamo will regress, but he was good at surrounding himself with the right people during those critical years (example: Jozak).
Obviously we should all be against criminals and crimes, that’s a no brainer.
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I’m curious to know if anyone knows the details to these crimes. From what I’ve heard, Dinamo has never claimed any money was taken from the club and my assumption is that the money embezzled was club money from transfers.
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Sure, tax evasion is easily proven and should be punished.
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From what I have read (I really haven’t seen too many details), Dinamo said they aren’t asking for and don’t want any type of reparations.