The untouchable football tycoon appears relaxed and in good spirits despite the threat that hangs over him.
Zdravko Mamic. The name alone is enough to provoke certain ”feelings” in a person. For some, he is the outspoken, untouchable king of football, a man unafraid of anything, especially when it comes to speaking his mind (and colourfully, for that matter). For others, he is painted in a less positive light, regarded as a shameless, corrupt and foul-mouthed individual, the symbol of everything wrong with the Croatian justice system. Mamic is subjective. You either love him or you hate him, a bit like Marmite.
As 24sata reported on the 19th of June, 2017, when Kovacevic’s wedding band blasted the popular folk hit “Ne moze nam ni’ko nista” (roughly translated: Nobody can do anything to us), Zdravko danced like there was no tomorrow. Naturally, only Luka Modric was missing to complete the atmosphere, he may have forgotten all about the event. Given his poor memory of late, who knows.
Mamić could have easily changed the words and chanted: “They can not do anything to me, I am stronger than USKOK!” Because, at least for this moment, he’d be right.
Dejan Lovren is set to testify on Wednesday at the Osijek County Court where Zdravko, his brother Zoran, former director of Dinamo Damir Vrbanovic and tax collector Milan Pernar are facing trial on suspicion of damaging Dinamo Zagreb for around 116 million kunas.
Zdravko says what he thinks, nobody can deny that, and over the course of the trial so far, he has attacked his lawyers and terminated their power of attorney, telling them to ”get lost” and that he can ”defend himself”.
Despite legal processes when it comes to witnesses, defendants and the rest of the legal mumbo-jumbo, there is no obstacle preventing Lovren and Mamic from being together and communicating at a private event such as a wedding ceremony or party.
Of course, there is no legal obstacle stopping Zdravko’s son, Mario, from meeting with Dejan Lovren on Sunday evening at Zagreb’s Kvatrić restaurant either.
While Luka Modric, without facing any consequences (despite the wrath of the media and Facebook’s many satire pages), infamously stated in court that he ”did not remember” when he had signed the disputed contract with Mamic, Lovren’s position is a bit more loose, in that he has a lot of maneuver space and leg room. Lovren confirmed in the investigation that the agreement with Zdravko Mamic was signed before transferring to France’s Olimpique Lyon, as is indicated in the document. This was also confirmed by the graphological expertise which showed that Lovren’s annex to the contract was only made in September 2009. Therefore, even if the Osijek court stated that the allocation of funds was agreed upon in the annex to the treaty on 9 January 2007, USKOK would simply find that this was not the case.
The trial continues, and it is yet to be seen whether or not anyone really can touch the powerful Mamic dynasty.
