A Zagreb court rejected the perjury charges against Croatia’s midfielder and Real Madrid star Luka Modric, made after his testimony during the trial against former Dinamo Zagreb club top executive Zdravko Mamic, Vecernji List daily reported on Wednesday.

The municipal court in Zagreb rejected the charges in a session held last Friday, but gave no explanation for the decision, Vecernji List reported.

Modric, who was recently voted best Fifa footballer of the year, was charged with perjury in March this year after he had given contradicting statements in his testimony in court and in a deposition to investigators about the date the annexes to his contract with Dinamo regulating transfer fees were signed.

In the high profile trial against Mamic and his three co-defendants, which started in April 2017, prosecutors had indicted Mamic for illegally taking portions of transfer fees paid by foreign clubs to Dinamo players. Among former Dinamo players called to testify during the trial were Real Madrid’s Luka Modric and Liverpool’s Dejan Lovren. Lovren was also later charged with perjury over his testimony.

In the first instance verdict, reached in June this year, Zdravko Mamic was found guilty on all counts and sentenced to 6.5 years in prison. The day before the verdict, Mamic had left Croatia for the town of Medjugorje in neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina, where he still resides.

Unofficial sources said the charges against Modric were rejected as premature, since Modric’s lawyers argued that the process against Modric can not begin until the final verdict is reached in the trial against Zdravko Mamic.

It is difficult to guess when the Mamic’s case will be finalised, Vecernji List said.

The decision to reject charges against Modric is not final, and can be appealed, after which the Zagreb County Court will decide on the case.

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