Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric faces an investigation into perjury and is suspected of making false statements at a tax fraud trial.
The charges relate to trial of former Dinamo Zagreb director Zdravko Mamic – a powerful figure in Croatian football – who was the midfielder’s boss while in his native country.
Prosecutors in Osijek believe Modric gave a false statement to a court earlier this month about his 2008 transfer from Dinamo to Tottenham, with cash said to have been embezzled via phoney deals.
If he is found guilty, the former Croatian captain could face anywhere between six months and five years in jail and he has already had murals to him defaced in his home country.
Mamic, his brother Zoran, and two others are accused of corruption that reportedly cost Dinamo Zagreb more than €15m and the state a further €1.5m.
Modric falsely said he had signed an annex to his contract (which set out the terms of future transfer fees) in July 2004, despite reportedly telling investigators in 2015 it had only been signed when he was playing at White Hart Lane.