Croatian star Zvonimir Popan has broken his silence and has spoken of his dismissal from his position at AC Milan.
On Saturday, Milan announced the dismissal of Boban from the position of football director, after a dispute with the club's CEO, Evan Gasidis. Boban brought the controversy to the public in a previous interview with the newspaper, "La Gazzetta dello Sport".
"I didn't know that we were in North Korea ... the dialogue that I had was sound from a legal standpoint, and I did it after ignoring many of the requests I made to talk to the administration," Popan said in a press statement on Sunday.
Among the most prominent points of disagreement between Boban and the Milan administration, the club's CEO reached out to former Leipzig coach Ralph Rangnick about taking over the team next season, with the possibility of serving as director of the ball as well, without consulting Boban or sports director Paulo Maldini.
"Milan decided the agreement since last December with Rangnick ... I send him congratulations and wish him success in his future work, but I must say that I should have been told first and from the beginning," Popan said.
Boban, who played for Milan between 1991 and 2001, left the club nine months after returning to San Siro to take up the newly created position. According to local reports, Maldini will in turn leave the club due to his differences with Gazidis.
The Lombardi club continued to suffer in the league after losing today 2-1 over Genoa, against Genoa, to freeze its score at 36 points in seventh place, three points behind Napoli, who finished sixth in the competition arrangement, qualified for the preliminary rounds in the European League next season.