Luka Modric Facing Jail Time as Croatian Courts Hit Real Madrid Ace With Perjury Charge
Luka Modric could serve jail time in Croatia after the Real Madrid star was charged with providing a false testimony during a corruption trial.
Croatian news outlet Vercenji has reported that the 32-year-old was hit with a charge relating to 'committing the criminal offense of giving false testimony' during the trial of former Dinamo Zagreb owner Zdravko Mamic.
That court case, which took place last June, alleged that Mamic abused his power at the former Croatian champions alongside three other individuals over financial embezzlement.
Fictitious transfer dealings allowed the transfer of cash among the quartet and led to Dinamo suffering a penalty to the tune around £13.5m and the state itself of £1.3m.
Modric provided evidence to the court over his 2008 move from the club to Tottenham Hotspur after prosecutors claimed that Mamic had pocketed half of the midfielder's transfer fee for himself.
Modric gave an account of how he signed an annex to a contract while with Dinamo that covered certain criteria relating to any transfer he may be a part of while playing in Croatia.
That would allow Modric to be entitled to half of the £18m deal that took him to Spurs a decade ago - a clause that he had originally testified against.
However, Modric stunned those present inside Osijek County Court as he went back on his original word and instead sided with Mamic by claiming that the annex was originally in place before his move to England and was not, in fact, voided after Dinamo and Spurs settled on the transfer fee.
That has led to the State Attorney Office slapping him with the charge and it remains to be seen what the next course of action in this ongoing case may be.
Mamic, said to be the most powerful man in Croatian football, is thought to hold some form of 'unsolicited agent' role in Modric's playing career and, if the latter is found guilty, he could spend up to five years in prison for the alleged crime.
