Champion Footballer Cristiano Ronaldo And Ace Coach José Mourinho Accused Of Evading Massive Taxes

Real Madrid and Portuguese football star Cristiano Ronaldo has reportedly evaded taxes worth €63.5 million and could have stashed more money in offshore accounts in the British Virgin Islands and Switzerland, joint investigation by Germany's weekly magazine Der Spiegel and several other European outlets has revealed.

According to a report in Politico, the German weekly reported that the ace footballer sold €75 million of advertising copyrights to two offshore firms in the British Virgin Islands two years ago but apparently evaded massive tax. Der Spiegel said it had obtained nearly two terabytes of confidential financial information form Football Leaks, the Politico added.

Spanish newspaper El Mundo, which is also there in the European Investigative Collaborations consortium, reported that the 31-year-old earned almost €150 million in advertisement copyrights but paid a meagre €5.6 million in principle to the tax authorities in Spain. The country's authorities were investigating the reports, said an AFP report. "The information in the hands of the tax office correspond to what we have learned in the media," secretary for Spain's tax office Jose Enrique Fernandez de Moya told radio station COPE.

Mourinho also under scanner

However, Ronaldo is not the only man to face such charges. Europe's top football coach José Mourinho, who is currently in charge of Manchester United, could also be involved in evading taxes and channelizing the money abroad. The consortium alleged that Mourinho has hidden €12 million in a Swiss account owned by a firm in the British Virgin Islands.

Football agency Gestifute, which represents both Ronaldo and Mourinho, said in a statement released on December 1 that both individuals "are fully compliant with their tax obligations with the Spanish and British tax authorities". On their parts, both Ronaldo and Mourinho denied the charges, said a BBC report. It can be mentioned here that Gestifute is owned by Ronaldo's old friend and agent Jorge Mendes.

Earlier this year, the Panama Papers leak exposed how the world's rich and powerful use tax havens abroad to conceal their wealth. And now, this revelation is certainly going to make the impact even stronger.