Modric again faces perjury charge in native Croatia

ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — Real Madrid’s Luka Modric and former Liverpool defender Dejan Lovren have been charged in Croatia with allegedly giving false testimony about financial deals they had with a former soccer official who has been sentenced for embezzlement and tax fraud. Zdravko Mamic was found guilty in 2018 on charges that included making illegal profits on player transfers from his time at the helm of Dinamo Zagreb, including the deals that took Modric to Tottenham in 2008 and Lovren to Lyon in 2010. He was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison but fled to Bosnia before the guilty verdict was announced. During Mamic’s trial, both Modric and Lovren had been charged with perjury and failing to declare taxes on the multi-million transfers to foreign clubs. But a Croatian court lifted those accusations.