Real Madrid midfielder, Luka Modric faces up to five years in prison for giving false testimony in the trial of former Dinamo Zagreb’s boss, Zdravko Mamic.
The Croatian midfielder, 32, was charged Friday by prosecutors.
However, in accordance with Croatian law, he was not named by prosecutors but was identified as a “Croatian citizen born in 1985”.
However, the local press identified him as Modric.
Mamic is accused — along with his brother Zoran Mamic and two others — of abuse of power and graft that cost the former Croatian champions more than 15 million euros ($18.4 million), and the state 1.5 million euros.
Cash was allegedly embezzled through fictitious deals related to player transfers. Modric testified last June over the details of his 2008 transfer from Dinamo to Tottenham Hotspur.
From there he joined Real Madrid in 2012.
The prosecutors charge Modric that, when questioned at the tribunal, he falsely said he had signed an annex to a contract with Dinamo over conditions for future transfers while still playing in Croatia.
When questioned during investigations in 2015, Modric said the annex was signed after he joined Tottenham, according to the prosecutors.
He faces a five-year term if found guilty.