Ex-Real Madrid defender Raul Bravo denies hiring a hitman in attempted murder of former team-mate

Former Real Madrid defender Raul Bravo has denied any involvement in the attempted shooting of his former Olympiakos team-mate, defender Darko Kovacevic.

Raul Bravo with Zinedine Zidane in 2005. Source: Getty Images

Bravo, 38, was accused of being behind the gun attack on Kovacevic by Serbia newspaper Telegraf.

Kovacevic, 46, was attacked by two men outside his home in Athens on January 7 of this year and sustained minor injuries after diving to the ground in an effort to avoid gunshots.

Bravo and Kovacevic were teammates at Olympiakos from 2007 until 2009.

In May 2019, Bravo was arrested as part of 'Operation Oikos', an investigation into match-fixing and corruption in Spanish football, and La Gazzetta dello Sport has reported that there could be a connection.

It was also reported by El Mundo, he was involved in an attempt to threaten Spanish Segunda club Huesca president Agustin Lasaosa over €100,000.

The Spanish left-back said he was stunned when he heard his name connected with the attack on Kovacevic. 

"A magazine in Serbia reported it and I was stunned that it said I ordered the murder of [Darko] Kovacevic," Bravo told Radio Marca's 'A Diario'.

"The only thing that matters [to them] is selling [magazines], and saying I wanted to kill Darko sells more. It's a crazy story, it's nonsense.

The former Spanish international said he and the former Serbian international have a good relationship. 

"I will say it again, the relationship is great," he said.

"It [the report] is something that his neither legs nor a head. It is a complete invention, madness.

"He hasn't gotten into any trouble and he doesn't know why this has happened. He has earned a lot of money from football... I've told him to stay calm."

"But I knew that Darko was going to laugh when he saw the news. It took him two days to call me."

Bravo played 133 times for Real Madrid, winning two La Liga titles and a Champions League title in 2002.