Blues chief Gold lambasts Croatian conspiracy claim
BIRMINGHAM chairman David Gold yesterday hit back at Croatian claims that Blues players deliberately injured Luka Modric and Eduardo, branding them “ridiculous”.
Tottenham star Modric broke his leg against Birmingham at the weekend, meaning he will miss Croatia’s crucial World Cup qualifier against England next week. The injury came just 18 months after Arsenal striker Eduardo suffered a career-threatening ankle dislocation and fracture, also at the hands of the Blues.
The coincidence led Croatian Football Federation president Vlatko Markovic to suggest that his key men were being systematically targeted by English players.
But Gold said: “To suggest it’s a conspiracy, particularly by our club, is absolutely ridiculous. I can’t see an ounce of reality about it at all. I find it nonsensical.
“I was at the Spurs game and I was only a few feet away from the incident and it was a very mild entanglement. Modric was outstanding in that game so no wonder they’re disappointed at losing him, but to say there is a conspiracy is nonsense.”
Markovic had said: “I can only ask whether someone did it deliberately on the eve of the game with England.”