ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) - A Croatian court has rejected a perjury charge against Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric because the accusations are “premature,” state TV reported on Wednesday.
Modric, who was recently named FIFA’s footballer of the year, is accused of lying in his testimony about financial deals with a former Dinamo Zagreb director convicted of embezzlement and tax fraud.
Prosecutors have said Modric gave a false court statement in June about his 2008 transfer from Dinamo to Tottenham. He moved to Real Madrid in 2012.
State TV said Zagreb’s criminal court has rejected the charges on the grounds they were “premature” until the proceedings against the former Dinamo director, Zdravko Mamic, are completed.
Mamic was sentenced in June to 6 1/2 years in prison but he has appealed the verdicts from neighboring Bosnia. Modric has denied any wrongdoing.
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