Croatia Upholds Dinamo Zagreb Football Club Ex-Boss’s Conviction

Former Dinamo Zagreb executive director Zdravko Mamic, who has been convicted of financial crimes in Croatia, told a press conference on Tuesday in the Bosnian town of Mostar that if he must serve a prison sentence, he will serve it in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

"We are in my first homeland," Mamic, who holds dual Croatian and Bosnian citizenship, told media.

The Croatian Supreme Court on Monday upheld a verdict convicting Mamic and his three co-defendants, including his brother Zoran, who resigned as Dinamo Zagreb's coach after the verdict, of siphoning millions out of the football club.

Zdravko Mamic, his brother Zoran, Damir Vrbanovic, a former Dinamo director, and tax official Milan Pernar, were initially convicted at Osijek Court in 2018 of illegally taking about 116 million kunas (15.5 million euros) out of the football club and defrauding the Croatian state of about 12.2 million kunas (1.6 million euros) in unpaid taxes.

The Supreme Court upheld Zdravko Mamic's sentence of six-and-a-half years in prison and Vrbanovic's three-year sentence.

Zoran Mamic's sentence was reduced to four years and eight months from four years and 11 months, while Pernar had his sentence reduced to three years and two months from four years and two months.

The court said that the sentences "are neither too severe nor too lenient and will fulfil the purpose of punishment".

But Zdravko Mamic described the verdict as "shameful".

Part of the verdict that convicted Zoran Mamic of inciting the abuse of former tax official Pernar was overturned, and a retrial was ordered.

Following Monday's court decision, Zoran Mamic stepped down immediately as Dinamo Zagreb's coach, although he said that he does not "feel guilty".