Zdravko Mamić (born 16 July 1959) is a Croatian former football administrator and sports agent. From 2003 to 2016, he was the executive director of Croatian football club GNK Dinamo Zagreb. Mamić also worked as an advisor at

NK Lokomotiva Nogometni klub Lokomotiva Zagreb ( en, Lokomotiva Zagreb Football Club), commonly known as Lokomotiva Zagreb or simply Lokomotiva, is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. It competes in the Croatian First Football League, the ...

and later, between 2016 and 2021, at Dinamo Zagreb. In 2018, he was found guilty of tax fraud in Croatia at which point, in order to avoid going to prison, he fled to neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina where he's been living as a fugitive from justice ever since.

Background

Mamić was born in

Bjelovar Bjelovar ( hu, Belovár, german: Bellowar, Kajkavian: ''Belovar'') is a city in central Croatia. It is the administrative centre of Bjelovar-Bilogora County. At the 2021 census, there were 36,433 inhabitants, of whom 93.06% were Croats. Histor ...

, PR Croatia,

FPR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yu ...

on 16 July 1959 to Herzegovinian Croat parents Josip and Lucija Mamić. His parents are originally from Zidine and Bukova Gora,

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

, respectively. They moved to Croatia in 1956 in search of work. Mamić has two siblings: older brother Stojko (born 1957) and younger brother Zoran (1971).

Early beginnings

In the 1970s, Zdravko with his two brothers (older Stojan and younger Zoran) moved from

to the

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Slov ...

suburb of Sesvete while their father was off working in

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

as part of the

gastarbeiter (; both singular and plural; ) are foreign or migrant workers, particularly those who had moved to West Germany between 1955 and 1973, seeking work as part of a formal guest worker program (). As a result, guestworkers are generally consider ...

programme. Mamić's first direct contact with GNK Dinamo Zagreb was through the Bad Blue Boys, Dinamo's

ultras Ultras are a type of association football fans who are renowned for their fanatical support. The term originated in Italy, but is used worldwide to describe predominantly organised fans of association football teams. The behavioural tende ...

supporters group. In the 1980s, Mamić befriended the then-manager of Dinamo,

Miroslav Blažević Miroslav "Ćiro" Blažević (; born 10 February 1935) is a Croatian former professional football manager and player. His professional playing career spanned from 1954 to 1966, during which he played for Dinamo Zagreb, Lokomotiva Zagreb, FK Saraje ...

, and made his way into Dinamo. In February 2016, he resigned as executive director, but returned as an advisor. On 16 March 2021, he resigned from all positions at the club.

Controversy

Mamić has become well known for his hostile behaviour towards (some) journalists, threatening with violence and/or making vulgar comments about them and their profession. In December 2011, a small group of Bad Blue Boys entered a press conference, confronting Mamić with his 'mismanagement of

Dinamo Zagreb Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb ( en, Dinamo Zagreb Citizens' Football Club, link=yes, italics=yes), commonly referred to as GNK Dinamo Zagreb or simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinamo ...

'. While in function as the chairman of Dinamo, Mamić has been detained by police. During his thirteen year reign at Dinamo Zagreb from 2003 to 2016, he appointed 15 different managers. On 15 March 2013, he was arrested after a verbal attack on Croatian Minister of Sports, Science and Education Željko Jovanović on a radio show. During the Croatian War of Independence, Mamić participated in the privatisation of Česma Wood Industry from

. In 2000 it was determined that the suspicious operations in the company caused 14 million HRK damage to the State budget, while the number of workers was halved. On 22 August 2017, Mamić was wounded in the leg in an assassination attempt by two masked perpetrators who ambushed him while he was exiting his vehicle during his annual visit to the village of Zidine near

Tomislavgrad Tomislavgrad (), also known by its former name Duvno (), is a town and municipality located in Canton 10 of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It mainly covers an area of the historical and geographica ...

, on the anniversary of his father Josip's death.

Trial

In 2009, Mamić was sued by

Eduardo da Silva Eduardo Alves da Silva (, ; born 25 February 1983), commonly known as Eduardo and sometimes nicknamed Dudu, is a former professional footballer. Capable of playing any forward position, he started as a striker, but was deployed mostly as a ...

for unfavorable contract according to which had to pay 50% of salary for the entirety of the career to Mamić's family. Silva won the case in 2014. On 18 November 2015, Mamić along with five other people was arrested over transfer irregularities in

. He was suspected of tax evasion and bribery. On 6 June 2018, Mamić was sentenced on first instance to six and a half years prison for transfer fraud relating to

Luka Modrić Luka Modrić (; born 9 September 1985) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for La Liga club Real Madrid and captains the Croatia national team. He plays mainly as a central midfielder, but can also play as an a ...

and

Dejan Lovren Dejan Lovren (; born 5 July 1989) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Russian Premier League club Zenit Saint Petersburg and the Croatia national team. Lovren began his career at Dinamo Zagreb before moving to ...

's transfer to

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

and Olympique Lyonnais respectively. Mamić, his brother Zoran, former Dinamo director Damir Vrbanović and tax official Milan Pernar, were all found guilty of siphoning over €15 million from Dinamo and defrauding the state budget over €1.2 million in unpaid taxes. Mamić, who had crossed the border into

one day earlier, did not attend the sentencing and stated that he would not return to Croatia. The

Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina :''This article refers to the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a domestic court which includes international judges and prosecutors and a section for war crimes; it should not be confused with the separate International Criminal Tribunal for the For ...

refused to extradite Mamić since he also holds Bosnian citizenship. The

Supreme Court of Croatia , image = Supreme Court of the Republic of Croatia.jpg , imagesize = 220px , caption = Palace of the Supreme Court is located at the Nikola Šubić Zrinski Square , established = , country = , location = Zagreb , coordinates = , type = ...

confirmed Mamić's sentence on 15 March 2021.

References

External links

Zdravko Mamić – američki san na hrvatski način

Zdravko Mamic Arrested on 15 March 2013
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mamic, Zdravko 1959 births Living people Sportspeople from Bjelovar People from Čitluk, Bosnia and Herzegovina Naturalized citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina Croatian sports executives and administrators Bosnia and Herzegovina sports executives and administrators Bosnia and Herzegovina chairpersons of corporations GNK Dinamo Zagreb Fugitives wanted by Croatia