Ronaldo strikes deal in tax case
Spanish media reports that Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo has agreed to plead guilty to tax fraud and pay a fine of $21.8 million in exchange for a prison sentence that would most likely be suspended.
Spanish newspaper El Mundo reported Friday that Ronaldo is ready to admit to four counts of tax fraud that would carry a prison sentence of two years. Prison sentences not over two years in Spain are often suspended for first-time offenders.
The deal has yet to be ratified by Spain’s Tax Office, according to different Spanish media including Europa Press news agency.
Reports of the deal came hours before Ronaldo scored three goals to give Portugal a 3-3 draw with Spain in their opening match of the World Cup in Russia.
One year ago, a Spanish state prosecutor accused Ronaldo of four counts of tax fraud from 2011-14 worth $16.5 million. The prosecutor accused Ronaldo of having used shell companies outside Spain to hide income made from image rights.
Ronaldo denied any wrongdoing when questioned by a judge last July.
TV ratings: The overnight rating from major markets of the World Cup opener was less than half of the overnight for the first game of the 2014 tournament, hurt by a much earlier kickoff and less glamorous teams.
Host Russia’s 5-0 rout of Saudi Arabia, which kicked off at 8 a.m. PDT Thursday, got a 1.6 average in metered markets, according to Nielsen Media Research. That was down from a 3.4 for Brazil’s 3-1 win over Croatia four years ago on ESPN, which started at 1 p.m. PDT.
Empty seats: More than 5,000 people with tickets skipped Uruguay’s 1-0 win over Egypt in Yekaterinburg on Friday, the worst-attended World Cup game in eight years.
FIFA said it is investigating why. Pockets of orange seats were clearly visible in the lower tiers of the Yekaterinburg Arena, which has a capacity of 33,061 for World Cup games.
FIFA said the smallest crowd at a World Cup match this century was 23,871 at a 1-1 draw between New Zealand and Slovakia at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
No chickens, please: A Russian official in the city of Kaliningrad says authorities forbade World Cup fans from bringing live chickens to matches. Some fans dye chickens in the national colors as a good luck symbol, including those from Nigeria, who play Croatia on Saturday in Kaliningrad.
Russia’s Interfax news agency quotes regional culture and tourism minister Andrei Yermak as saying “fans from Nigeria asked whether they could bring a chicken to the stadium. ... We told them they can’t bring a live chicken at all.”