Velimir Zajec (born 12 February 1956) is a Croatian professional football manager and former player who is the current president of Dinamo Zagreb.

[citation needed] Zajec made his debut for Yugoslavia in a March 1977 friendly match against the Soviet Union and earned a total of 36 caps, scoring 1 goal.

[3] Following retirement, he spent two years (1989–1991) as Director of Football at former club Dinamo Zagreb before returning to Panathinaikos to run their academy.

In late October 1998, Zajec replaced Zlatko Kranjčar as manager at Dinamo Zagreb (then known as Croatia Zagreb), following Kranjčar's poor record in the UEFA Champions League group stage, where the team only managed to grab a single point in three matches (drawing with Ajax at home, before losing to both Olympiacos and Porto on the road).

The team's performance in the UEFA Champions League improved under Zajec, as they managed to stay undefeated in the remaining three group matches, beating Porto and Ajax and drawing with Olympiacos.