“My Truth”: Zdravko Mamić Holds Two Hour Long Press Conference

Dinamo’s advisor Zdravko Mamić held yet another long press conference about, quite literally, his entire life. 

Zdravko Mamić held a two-hour press conference this afternoon at Maksimir stadium where he talked about everything, from his birth to today’s gatherings. Mamić initially announced this press conference a month ago, which was canceled immediately.  The initial discussion was meant to be held on the eve of the last indictment, reports Gol.hr and Index.hr on January 9, 2018.

As most of you know, Zdravko Mamić has been charged with two indictments for damaging football club Dinamo Zagreb by 116 million kuna, while he has also been accused of damaging the state budget by 12.2 million kuna. All of this was done, of course, with the help of his associates, and Mamić has already been tried at the Osijek County Court. 

At the end of last month, another indictment was issued against Mamić after he was suspected of taking 19.5 million kuna from Dinamo’s bank account in Austria between 2004 and 2007. Part of these unauthorized funds was then transferred to his brother Zoran’s bank account. 

The most powerful man in Croatian football came prepared to today’s press conference, complete with hundreds of documents and photographs in tow. Here’s a bit of Zdravko spoke about in his two-hour-long ordeal. 

“Hello to everyone. This will be a bit of an extraordinary conference, and it will take a little longer than usual. In fact, one correction at the beginning: this is not my truth, this is the only truth,” began Zdravko Mamić, who then spoke about his very beginnings – from his life at birth. Mamić continued to talk about his childhood, how he started with football and how he came to Zagreb.

“I was born in 1959 in Bjelovar, a city of handball and cookies. I had a transistor radio when handball was the strongest in Bjelovar – only the rich people had black and white TVs. I remember we all went to the co-operative to watch television. I’m not shy to tell you that in the winter I played football barefoot – I did not have the opportunity to live like our kids today. I always played football barefoot. Coach Rajko Flak noticed me and took me for a trial at Dinamo together with my brother Stojko. My brother Zoran was born in 1971 in Zagreb, meaning I have not left Maksimir for 47 years,” Mamić began.

As for the first indictments, alleging the unlawful withdrawal of the money from Dinamo, Mamić said:

“I cannot go to jail, and Modrić and Lovren are at liberty if I’m guilty. I wasn’t alone in the transfer of money, they also participated. But of course we are not guilty, it’s legal and normal in football. In court, Modrić and Lovren gave a true testimony, and an investigation into false testimony was initiated against them. This is a direct threat to future witnesses. Their transfers are in the books. You have 82 prosecution witnesses, and everyone has testified for my benefit. All the experts…”

He continued:

“You will not sleep peacefully because of what you have done to Modrić and Lovren. All of Europe is writing about them for trials and investigations against them. I am looking for the president and prime minister to stop the farce that is being done to Modrić and Lovren.” 

Mamić admitted that his son had a connection with the transfer of Dinamo players…one time.

“I lied. What could I say when Jovanović’s campaign went against me? I could only say that my son did not cooperate with Dinamo. The sons of everyone else can work normally, but power has done everything so my son cannot work in Croatia. He works in Switzerland and BiH, paying them taxes. He has a firm in Switzerland because the Sports Act defends him to work in Croatia,” said Mamić.

”Am I Bin Laden, am I the leader of ISIL? Give me life! Let me live! I have a family, let me go. I’m innocent until proven guilty. I am the poorest man in Europe concerning the amount of money that has gone through my hands. I spent everything for Dinamo, for friends, and for humanitarian purposes,” Mamić said towards the closure of the conference.  

And finally, when asked if he was sorry that his entire family had ended up in court, Mamić said:

“I do not regret it…How could I be a man if this was not hard? I’m sorry to see your reactions; I do not know if you even deserve what I have given you today. You talk to me about philanthropy, and I’m an innocent man. I’ve been telling you about the 47 years I’ve given to Dinamo, and you take from that some nonsense and detail. Focus your energy on your future, a better Croatia, a Croatia where people won’t be left without a home, be under arrest, and run away from the country…Whose d**k did you find to f**k me? Are there still some questions? Thanks and goodbye,” Mamić concluded at the end of his speech to the media.

You can watch the entire conference in full below. 

Excerpts taken from Gol.hr and Index.hr

 

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