NO PAY, JOSE

Utd’s Mourinho accused of tax fraud in Spain

JOSE Mourinho has been accused of tax fraud in Spain relating to his time as Real Madrid boss.

The Manchester United manager allegedly owes £2.91million over undeclared revenues from the use of his image rights.

A Madrid prosecutor claims the 54-year-old ducked payment “with the aim of obtaining illicit profits”.

A statement alleges Portuguese Mourinho committed two counts of tax fraud in 2011 and 2012.

It claimed “corporate structures were used by the accused in order to conceal revenues generated from his image rights”.

The Madrid prosecutor said the case was presented to a local court.

A judge will decide whether the matter will go any further.

But Mourinho last night insisted he has paid his taxes. A statement said: “Neither the Spanish tax authorities, nor the public prosecutor have contacted Jose Mourinho. He paid more than 26 million euros in taxes while in Spain. The Spanish Government in turn issued a certificate which attested he was in compliance with all his tax obligations.” Mourinho left Real Madrid in 2013 to manage Chelsea for a second spell before joining United last year. Other big names in Spanish football have been accused of tax fraud recently. They include Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo, who is accused of hiding almost £13million.

He denies the accusations and is threatening to leave Spain.

Barcelona’s Lionel Messi was given a 21-month suspended jail term for tax fraud and team-mate Javier Mascherano got a one-year suspended sentence. Barca star Neymar is also under investigation for fraud.