‘Football Leaks’ gag order challenged

SPAIN’S sports minister said he was “surprised” by a Spanish judge’s decision to seek a gag order on 12 European media outlets that alleged massive football fraud, saying it would “have no effect”.

The first batch of so-called “Football Leaks” unveiled yesterday alleged that personalities like Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo and Manchester United coach Jose Mourinho had been involved in a multimilliontax evasion system.

Judge Arturo Zamarriego issued an injunction against all 12 outlets at the demand of Senn Ferrero, a Spanish legal advisory firm that claims some of the information was obtained through a cyber-attack on the company.

“I’m surprised,” Inigo Mendez de Vigo told Spanish radio when asked about the injunction, while acknowledging he had not seen the full document.

“Above all, I have the feeling that it’s not going to have any effect and there’s no point in doing things that won’t have any effect.”

The first leaks, unveiled yesterday as part of the European Investigative Collaborations (EIC) journalists’ consortium, centred on “a system” allegedly put in place by Jorge Mendes, the agent of Ronaldo and Mourinho.

They allege for instance Ronaldo could have “hidden million (R2.2-billion) from image rights in tax havens in Switzerland and the British Virgin Islands.”

Still, Spanish tax authorities are that investigating the allegations where Ronaldo is concerned.

The judge’s injunction claims the leaks could constitute an offence against the right to privacy because they were allegedly obtained through the cyber-attack on Senn Ferrero.

But in a story on Monday, French investigative news website Mediapart – also part of the EIC consortium – refuted the cyber-attack allegations, saying the source at the origin of the leaks denied this.

“This is an attempt at censorship on the scale of an entire continent.”

In weeks to come, the media org say they will also publish allegations of prostitution and exploitation of minors in football. — AFP