After Sunday’s conflict at the GOAT League in Zagreb grew beyond sports and turned into one of the hot topics in the Croatian public, Tomislav Mrkonjic issued a statement about the incident with Marko Martinjak and explained his side of the story. In the announcement, the football player stated that “he did not personally file a lawsuit against Martinjak, but the process was conducted solely on the official duty of the Criminal State Attorney’s Office of the Republic of Croatia”, and read his entire statement HERE.
We spoke with Mrkonjić after he published a statement, which he further expanded on for Jutarnji:
– I’m sorry because the picture has turned and lies are being told, and some other situations are being invoked. The biggest problem is that even now we see each other, drink coffee and shake hands, the story remains that I was like this or that, there are records on the Internet, but the truth is the opposite. That event was public, streamed on YouTube, and people got it wrong. As soon as the police and ambulance arrive on the field, a record is created and the procedure is carried out. I repeat, a lot of people get attached to it and think that I started everything, that I want compensation for damages, and that never occurred to me and I have no such interests – says Mrkonjić in the introduction.
In the press release, he stated that he is facing numerous messages and calls, even threats, which he referred to in the conversation:
– From social networks to comments on media sites, I have seen atrocities and semi-threats, even threats. Everything went far, I try to ignore it and not read it, but it took a lot of momentum and everything went in a direction that is not healthy.
When asked about the official findings, he answered:
– It says in the press release. Internal bleeding, I have a broken nose and a ruptured arcade, whiplash injuries to my neck and joints, the entire shoulder girdle. That’s an official finding from KBC Rebro, I didn’t write it.
In the end, he said about the incident with Martinjak:
– Ultimately, we are all athletes. I was neither angry nor angry after that. I have gone through various situations in my life, but this all led the audience in the wrong direction and I am being called names, and it is not my fault. I didn’t hold anything against him at that moment, nor now. Yellow minutes happen to everyone, but the way they treated me later was very bad and unsportsmanlike – concluded Mrkonjić.
