Yahoo – AFP,
Benjamin BOULY RAMES, July 31, 2017
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| Portugal and Real Madrid player Cristiano Ronaldo is the world's highest paid athlete, according to Forbes magazine |
Real Madrid
forward Cristiano Ronaldo denied hiding millions of euros in income at a court
hearing near the Spanish capital on Monday where he was charged with tax
evasion.
The
Portuguese -- the world's highest paid sportsman according to Forbes magazine
-- is the latest football star to fall foul of Spain's taxman.
He follows
in the footsteps of his arch-rival, Barcelona forward Lionel Messi, who was
found guilty of the same offence last year.
"I
have never hidden anything, nor have I had the intention of evading
taxes," Ronaldo, 32, told the court, according to a statement from the
sports agency which represents him, Gestifute.
"I
always voluntarily file my tax returns because I think we all must file a
return and pay taxes according to our income. Those that know me, know what I
ask my advisors: that they have everything up to date and properly paid,
because I don't want problems."
Accused of
having evaded 14.7 million euros ($17.3 million) in tax, he entered and left
the court in Pozuelo de Alarcon, a wealthy suburb of Madrid where he lives, via
an underground garage to avoid the press.
Prosecutors
allege he took "advantage of a company structure created in 2010 to hide
income generated in Spain from his image rights from tax authorities".
 |
The world's
highest-paid sports personalities in 2016 (Forbes magazine)
|
They say
this was a "voluntary and conscious breach of his fiscal obligations in
Spain".
Prosecutors
accuse the four-time world player of the year of evading tax via a shell
company based in the British Virgin Islands and another in Ireland, known for
low corporate tax rates.
In
addition, they say the Real Madrid striker only declared 11.5 million euros of
Spanish-related income from 2011 to 2014, while what he really earned during
that time was close to 43 million euros.
They also
accuse him of "voluntarily" refusing to include 28.4 million euros in
income linked to the sale of his image rights for the 2015 to 2020 period to a
Spanish company.
'Legal
and legitimate'
Ronaldo
told the court he did not create a "special structure" to manage his
image rights when he moved to Real in 2009 but simply maintained the one set up
in 2004 while he was at Manchester United "long before I thought of coming
to Spain".
This
structure had been deemed "legal and legitimate" by the British tax
office.
The affair
has taken its toll on Ronaldo.
According
to press reports, Real's all-time top goalscorer threatened to leave Spain over
the affair, giving supporters a fright.
He has
since decided to stay on, according to Real coach Zinedine Zidane.
If he were
put on trial and found guilty, Ronaldo would risk "a fine of at least 28
million" euros and could potentially be jailed for three and a half years,
the Gestha union of experts at Spain's Inland Revenue has said.
Since
extending his contract last November until 2021, Ronaldo is the highest paid
sports star in the world with $93 million earned in 2016-2017, according to
Forbes.
Ronaldo is
not the only footballer to fall foul of authorities in Spain, which is only
just recovering from a damaging economic crisis that saw countless people lose
their jobs and inequalities rise.
Messi was
sentenced to a 21-month jail sentence and 2.09 million-euro fine last year for
tax fraud.
His prison
sentence has since been replaced by another fine of 252,000 euros, which
corresponds to 400 euros for each day of jail.
Barcelona's
Argentine defender Javier Mascherano, meanwhile, agreed a one-year suspended
sentence with authorities for tax fraud last year.
Brazil star
Neymar, another Barcelona forward, and his parents are also due to stand trial
for alleged corruption over his transfer from Santos in 2013.
Real have
not been spared either.
Apart from
Ronaldo, former player Angel di Maria, Portuguese defender Fabio Coentrao and
Jose Mourinho, who coached the club from 2010 to 2013, have all been accused of
tax fraud.
All are
clients of super-agent Jorge Mendes, who was also questioned and put under
official investigation last month by a Spanish court investigating alleged tax
evasion by Monaco's former Atletico Madrid striker Radamel Falcao, another
footballer in his stable.
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