Unbeknownst to him, Michael Laudrup was registered to Bosnia's Celik Zenica in 1997 on the way to Ajax Amsterdam. Dutch and Bosnian authorities suspect money laundering and tax evasion.
Who is the greatest footballer ever to belong to a Bosnian club? Officially, the best Bosnian player of the past 50 years is Safet Susic, formerly of FK Sarajevo and Paris SG, but there are other names to be considered: Vahid Halilhodzic (Velez Mostar), Ivica Osim (Zeljeznicar), Michael Laudrup (Celik Zenica), Franjo Vladic (Velez), Dusan Bajevic (Velez)...
And no, that was not a typo. Laudrup, we mean. The glorious Danish player was a member of lowly Celik in the summer of 1997, although he was not aware of it at the time!
As the Bosnian paper Dnevni Avaz discovered, the Great Dane somehow got registered for Celik ("Steel" in Bosnian) in early August of 1997, after he agreed to terminate his contract with Japan's Vissel Kobe. It was from Celik that he was, officially, transferred to Ajax Amsterdam, the club in which a year later he ended his famous career.
The affair started when the Dutch investigators found out that Ajax paid 1.95 million dollars to Celik for Laudrup's transfer rights. The Dutch authorities suspected that this was done in order to reduce the cost of the operation for Ajax, because a club-to-club fee is tax-free in Holland, unlike a transfer fee paid directly to a player, as a reward for his signing the contract. Believing some 5 million Guilders in taxes were embezzled, the Dutch contacted their Bosnian counterparts last spring, asking them to launch a probe into this bizarre story.
The Bosnian police then swept Celik's offices in search of any
documentation related to the mysterious transfer.
"We did not start this investigation, we are just providing
international legal aid, as requested by the Dutch Public Attorney's
office and their taxing authorities, FIOD," explained Zenica
district attorney Muris Hadziselimovic.
It has turned out that Celik's documents based on which Ajax made the payment were issued on the club's stationery, but were signed by an unauthorized person. It has also transpired that the 1.95 million dollars never reached the Bosnian club's bank account, but a certain football agent's account in Monte Carlo!
Back in 1997 J. League Vissel could not afford to keep Laudrup with his 1.2 million dollar paycheck and when the footballer received an invitation from Ajax's then coach Morten Olsen, the Japanese club agreed to release the Dane without compensation, in exchange for his waiving the salary.
Under circumstances yet to be established, before actually being transferred to Ajax, Laudrup was somehow "parked" in Zenica, in order to make the operation cheaper for the Dutch. Seven years ago, less than two years less after the cessation of hostilities, Bosnia must have seemed to someone as a perfect field for such unlikely construction.
"There is no doubt that Laudrup was registered for Celik
as a free agent, but he did not play one single game," says
Samir Skrgo, Celik's director.
"Seven years have passed since the date and the fact is that almost no one on the Board knew of the transfer, until we were so
informed from the Public Attorney's office."
Laudrup, of course, never sported Celik's shirt and indeed never put a foot into the club's offices.
The current Brondby's coach said to the Danish press that he knew
nothing of Celik, and that he was horrified to learn that his name
was being mentioned in relation to a transfer scandal.
"My business and sporting careers are clean," said the
phenomenal former player of Lazio, Juventus, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Ajax. And Celik, pranksters would add.
Ajax, on the other hand, claims they have no idea what the Bosnians did with the money they paid for having the player released.
Michael Laudrup
Date of birth:
June 15, 1964
Previous clubs:
1979-1980 Bröndby IF (Denmark)
1980-1981 Köbenhavn BK (Denmark)
1981-1983 Bröndby IF (Denmark)
1983-1985 Lazio (Italy)
1985-1989 Juventus (Italy)
1989-1994 Barcelona (Spain)
1994-1996 Real Madrid (Spain)
1996-1997 Vissel Kobe (Japan)
1997-1998 Ajax (Holland)
International Appearances/Goals:
104 caps; 37 goals
Honours:
European Champions Cup (1992)
Italian League Championship (1986)
Spanish League Championship(1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995)
Dutch League Championship (1998)