Tuđman has always been a great enthusiast of sports, he often played tennis. As a high-ranking officer in the Yugoslav People’s Army residing in Belgrade, it is logical that he was active in the military sports club Partizan in Belgrade. From 1952 to 1958, he was the president of the tennis club, and then from 1958 to 1963, he served as the president of the entire Yugoslav Sports Society Partizan. During his tenure, the club’s jerseys became black and white, a tradition that has endured to this day.

After becoming the President of the Republic of Croatia, Tuđman initiated a change in the name of the Zagreb football club Dinamo, first to HAŠK Građanski and then to Croatia. Three months after his death, the club was renamed Dinamo again.