Dinamo Zagreb Chief Arrested Again in Croatia

Police arrested Mamic early on Wednesday morning along with four other people, on an arrest warrant issued by Croatian Office for Suppression of Corruption and Organized Crime, USKOK.

Unconfirmed reports suggested that Mamic was arrested along his son Mario, who used to manage a sports agency founded by his father, which had contracts with some of Dinamo's players.

Unconfirmed reports also suggested that that former club director Damir Vrbanovic and two people from offshore companies were among the others arrested.

Although Croatian media has speculated that the reason for the arrests is alleged embezzlement, USKOK has not given any explanation so far or said if they were connected to earlier arrests in July and its ongoing investigation into Mamic and people around him.

USKOK launched its previous operation against Mamic on July 2, along with his brother Zoran, who is the football club's manager, as well as Vrbanovic and tax administration officer Milan Pernar. They were suspected of having embezzled around 17.3 million euro and of evading taxes.

Pernar turned himself in on July 3, but Vrbanovic and the Mamic brothers were abroad when the operation started. Vrbanovic was arrested a day later while flying in to Zagreb, while the Mamic brothers returned to Croatia from Hungary a day later.

Zagreb county court on July 15 released all the suspects, setting a bail of 1.6 million euro in total. They were released with a pledge not to try to influence witnesses or commit the same crimes again, while USKOK continued its investigation.

Zdravko Mamic, who has been executive president of Dinamo for more than 12 years, is a controversial figure.

In the past, he has often insulted public figures and ethnic and sexual minority...