Oh Hey, Dejan Lovren Isn’t Going to Jail

In the conclusion of a weird story that hasn’t gotten much coverage amidst Liverpool’s title push this season, Dejan Lovren has had dropped the perjury charges hanging over his head. Just in time for the player to make his triumphant return from injury to rejoin the team, a Croatian court has dropped the charges that had been levied against him, as well as fellow countryman Luka Modric. Modric’s charges had been lifted last month.

The charges originally alleged that Lovren had perjured himself in 2017 when he testified at the trial of disgraced former Dinamo Zagreb boss Zdravko Mamic, who was sentenced to seven years in prison for corruption, but escaped incarceration by fleeing the country.

Lovren’s testimony was regarding his transfer to Lyon from Dinamo in 2010 — where it was alleged that Lovren funneled a hefty part of his transfer fee to Mamic and his family. This was thanks to a caveat in his contract. But in the case of Lovren and Modric, the case against Mamic tried to prove that this clause had been backdated before the players got sold. This sort of scheme helped cement Mamic as the most powerful man in Croatian football.

Lovren has steadfastly maintained his innocence, and on Monday, a municipal court in Croatia released a statement saying that they “rejected the indictment” of Lovren.

So yay. Everyone’s second favorite brate isn’t going to have to spend five years in a Croatian prison, that’s cool. And now that this situation is resolved, hopefully it will allow Lovren to put all his focus on playing for the Reds as they make their final push in their title run.