Spanish judge summons Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo has been summoned to appear before a Spanish judge, and Jose Mourinho could be next.
Ronaldo and Mourinho are the latest members of the soccer elite to be accused of tax fraud in Spain. Lionel Messi and Javier Mascherano, among others, have already been convicted.
On Tuesday, Ronaldo was told to appear in court on July 31, while Mourinho was accused by a state prosecutor of defrauding Spain’s Tax Office of $3.7 million
Ronaldo, who is in Russia at the Confederations Cup playing for Portugal, has played in Spain for Real Madrid since 2009.
Mourinho was Real Madrid coach from 2010-13. He’s coaching Manchester United.
The cases are about the profits made from image rights, not salaries from their clubs. Real Madrid and Man United are not directly involved.
Both Ronaldo and Mourinho are represented by Portuguese agent Jorge Mendes. Atletico Madrid striker Radamel Falcao and Real Madrid defender Fabio Coentrao, who have also been accused of tax fraud in Spain, are also clients of Mendes.
Mendes’ agency, Gestifute, released a statement saying Mourinho had not received any official notification about the accusations against him.
“To this date, neither the Spanish tax authorities, nor the public prosecutor have contacted Jose Mourinho or his advisers who were hired for the inspection process,” the statement said.
It added that Mourinho paid “more than 26 million euros in taxes, with an average tax rate over 41 percent, and accepted the regularization proposals made by the Spanish tax authorities in 2015 regarding the years of 2011 and 2012 and entered into a settlement agreement regarding 2013.”