Real Madrid’s Luka Modric Faces 5 Years in Prison on Perjury Charges

Croatian authorities have charged the captain of the national football team, Luka Modric, with perjury over his testimony in the tax fraud trial of Zdravko Mamic, a former executive director at Dinamo Zagreb.

Prosecutors say Modric, 32, made a false statement in June 2017 over details of his transfer
from Dinamo to English club Tottenham Hotspur in the summer of 2008.

The Real Madrid playmaker faces up to five years behind bars if found guilty of the charges levelled against him.

Mr Mamic, a powerful figure in Croatian football, was a senior official at Dinamo Zagreb when Mr Modric played for the club, and is being accused of embezzling cash alongside his brother Zoran and two others from the sale of players, BBC writes.

They stand trial on corrupt practices that reportedly cost Dinamo Zagreb more than €15m (£13.1m; $16.7m), and the state €1.5m.

Modric testified in June 2017 about his £16.5m transfer from Dinamo to Tottenham in 2008, and his perjury charge hinges on exactly when he signed an annex to his contract with Dinamo, setting out the terms for future transfer fees.

Prosecutors allege that at a tribunal on 13 June, Mr Modric falsely said he had signed the annex which allowed him to receive half the transfer fee in July 2004, when he actually signed it in 2008 when he had already left the club.

The state attorney’s office believes the player changed his testimony in favour of Mr Mamic.