Ex-Premier League Footballer Incarcerated for Defaulting on £70,000 Due to Beauty Queen Ex-Wife | Bosko Balaban
A former Premier League striker, Bosko Balaban, aged 45, has been sentenced to a year in jail for failing to fulfill financial obligations totaling £70,000 to his ex-wife, Iva Radic, a former beauty queen and Miss Croatia of 1995.
The footballer was married to Radic for over a decade until their divorce in 2017, sharing three children—two daughters and a son. Balaban received a conditional sentence of one year and four years of probation in 2021 due to overdue financial support. However, his failure to comply within the stipulated time frame led to his imprisonment for one year, with four years suspended, as reported by Belgian outlet HLN in January.
Zagreb’s court issued the sentence, affirming that prison time was inevitable even if the outstanding amount was paid. Balaban, known for his time at Club Brugge, where he scored 58 goals in 118 appearances, briefly played for Aston Villa, making eight appearances in the 2001/02 season without scoring before being loaned back to Dinamo Zagreb.
His transfer to Aston Villa for £5.8 million in 2001 earned him the reputation of one of the Premier League’s biggest flop signings. Following his retirement, he transitioned into football agency, representing players like former Leicester star Andrej Kramaric.
Meanwhile, Iva Radic, with a significant following of 113,000 on Instagram, regularly shares glamorous posts and has collaborated with renowned fashion brands such as Paco Rabanne, H&M, and Chanel.
In a separate incident, a former West Ham player, Kaine Wright, aged 26, along with accomplices Leslie Nkhwa, 47, and David Lamming, 31, was involved in attempting to sell a stolen antique vase valued at £1.96 million.
The vase, a “rare pomegranate vase from the Yongle Period ,” was stolen from the Musee des Arts d’Extreme-Orient in Geneva during a heist in June 2019. The trio sought to sell it for £1 million, later lowering the price to £450,000 in cash.
Wright and Lamming received three-year sentences for conspiracy to convert criminal property, while Nkhwa, who admitted to the same charge, was handed a two-and-a-half-year sentence.
Southwark Crown Court learned that the attempted sale took place through emails to the China Guardian auction house in Hong Kong, where photos of the stolen vase were shared for valuation. Lamming also contacted the Art Loss Register in Hatton Garden, claiming possession of the stolen vase from Switzerland.