Dinamo

The day has come and after the UEFA draw in Nyon, Zvezda and Dinamo will face each other in the playoffs for the elite stage of the competition provided that both teams first eliminate Sheriff, that is the Warsaw Legion.

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 world over, the empty terraces of the COVID-19 era have brought many football clubs to the brink of financial collapse. Dinamo, already indebted, is among them. 

Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic on Wednesday said the government was considering an appeal from the famous Zagreb-based football club Dinamo - which had sought his help in dealing with what it called huge pressures from various criminal elements who were planning a "violent takeover".

Former Croatian football club boss Zdravko Mamic, who has been convicted of financial crimes, was arrested on Thursday in Medjugorje.

State Investigation and Protection Agency police detained Mamic on the basis of an Interpol warrant. He will be handed over to the Bosnian state court.

Zdravko Mamic, the former chief of Dinamo Zagreb, his brother Zoran Mamic, Damir Vrbanovic, a former Dinamo director, and tax official Milan Pernar were convicted on Wednesday of siphoning about 116 million kunas (15.5 million euros) out of the football club and defrauding the state of about 12.milion kuna (1.8 euro) in unpaid taxes.

Croatian former justice minister Vesna Skare Ozbolt said on Tuesday that the investigation into Real Madrid football star Luka Modric, suspected of giving false testimony in court about alleged financial kickbacks in his 2008 transfer from Dinamo Zagreb, should be a warning to people considering committing perjury.

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.

Zagreb County Court on Wednesday ordered the release on bail of Dinamo's executive president, Zdravko Mamic, the club manager, Zoran Mamic, and the former club director, Damir Vrbanovic, for a total of 1.6 million euro.

All suspects left custody prison on Wednesday afternoon, after their bails were deposited at court.

Croatian Interior Minister Ranko Ostojic told a TV show on Thursday that an internal arrest warrant had been issued for senior officials of the Zagreb football club Dinamo.

The main man in question, Zdravko Mamic, via a video link to the same TV show, called the minister a liar and said he was a victim of a political plot.