A regular convention of the Croatian Football Federation (HNS) on Wednesday did not include a vote of confidence in HNS president Vlatko Markovic because that item was not on the agenda of the meeting.
The president of the football club Hajduk, Hrvoje Males, and some other opponents of the current HNS leadership, walked out of the convention before its end.
The convention was attended by 51 out of 52 delegates.
Some ten days ago, HNS vice-president and former referee Zeljko Siric and the president of the Referee Commission, Stjepan Djedovic, were arrested for abuse of powers and bribe-taking. The two men were arrested after receiving 30,000 euros in bribes from Males, who acted as a confidential informant for the anti-corruption agency USKOK, for refereeing matches of the national league's first division.
The president of the Zadar County Football Federation, Reno Sinovcic, asked that the agenda be amended with a motion to discontinue a two-year suspension of 27 football workers who supported Igor Stimac when he was running for HNS president, and Males backed Sinovcic's request. However, the meeting rejected the request by a majority vote, and HNS legal expert Vlado Iveta said it could be discussed after the expiry of one half of the suspension, namely in March next year.
Delegates then adopted changes to the HNS Statute under which an extraordinary convention can be called if supported by signature from a majority of delegates (27). Until now, such a decision required the votes of one-third of delegates (17).
Addressing the convention, Males said that crime in sports finally had to be discussed. "The HNS vice-president is in prison, the referee commission has been dissolved over bribe-taking, and we are talking here about painting a house that has no foundation. I hope the UEFA delegate following this convention will tell his superiors that the HNS vice-president is in prison for corruption," said Males.
The convention was also addressed by the president of the Split County Football Federation, Nikola Tokic, who called on Markovic and HNS secretary-general Zorislav Srebric to resign. He then called on all delegates sharing his views to walk out of the meeting, which was done by Males, Sinovcic and some other opponents of the current HNS leadership.
This prompted the executive director of Dinamo Zagreb, Zdravko Mamic, who is considered the most powerful man in Croatian football, to address the convention, calling those who walked out of the meeting losers.
He repeated accusations that Males had asked him to let Hajduk win this year's cup because Dinamo would be the champion anyway.
