The secretary of the national association of football clubs from the national league's first division, Neven Sprajcer, was arrested on Thursday on an order from the anti-corruption agency USKOK for giving bribes to the former vice-president of the Croatian Football Federation (HNS), Zeljko Siric, a source close to the investigation told the media.
The same source said Sprajcer was expected to be taken to USKOK by the end of the day, and before an investigating judge of the Zagreb County Court on Friday.
Sprajcer's arrest is the result of an investigation into Siric, who was recently arrested with the president of the Referee Commission, Stjepan Djedovic, for taking 30,000 euros in bribes to ensure fair refereeing from USKOK's confidential informant, the president of the Hajduk football club, Hrvoje Males.
Sprajcer is reportedly suspected of having given Siric money for fair refereeing in matches of the football club Karlovac at the time when Sprajcer was the club's secretary.
The media have reported that after Siric's arrest, USKOK received an anonymous letter from a "disgruntled footballer" accusing Karlovac's leaders, including Sprajcer, of having bribed the club's way into the first division. Sprajcer has dismissed the accusations.
USKOK officials said USKOK would issue a statement on the latest arrest on Friday.
Sprajcer is also the president of the Karlovac County Football Federation and he attended in that capacity Wednesday's convention of the Croatian Football Federation at which Siric and Djedovic were relieved of duty.
Siric is also under investigation on the suspicion that he helped a number of people, including police officials, to obtain university diplomas, being a professor at the Osijek University.
