Yet more footballers in court over tax

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Ronaldo accepts €18.8m deal over tax evasion

Football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo has cut a deal with a court in Madrid over tax evasion charges, accepting an €18.8m (£16.6m) fine.

A huge media presence met the player outside the court, after a judge refused his request to appear by video or to enter the building by car to avoid the spotlight.

The deal, agreed in advance, includes a 23-month jail sentence.

But in Spain, convicts do not usually do time for sentences under two years.

The non-violent nature of Ronaldo's offence means he is unlikely to spend any time at all in jail, serving it on probation instead.

The court appearance lasted mere minutes as Ronaldo accepted the deal offered by prosecutors.

The current Juventus player, who played for the club in Italy the night before, arrived smiling and giving a thumbs-up, apparently unfazed by the media presence.

His lawyers had argued that given his fame, avoiding the main entrance was needed for the player's security.

Journalist Ruben Canizares posted a video of the footballer arriving at the provincial court with his fiancee Georgina Rodriguez.

What are the allegations against Ronaldo?

Ronaldo, five-time winner of Europe's Ballon d'Or and often titled one of the world's best players, was accused of avoiding paying tax in Spain between 2010 and 2014, when he was playing for Real Madrid and based in the Spanish capital.

Forbes lists the 33-year-old as the third-wealthiest athlete in the world, with estimated earnings of $108m (€95m) a year.

The case centres around lucrative image rights deals. Prosecutors say the proceeds were funnelled through low-tax companies in foreign nations to avoid paying the required tax.

In court, as part of his deal, Ronaldo acknowledged four incidents amounting to €5.7m owed, according to Spanish-language news agency EFE.

In 2017, when the allegations first emerged, prosecutors said it was a "voluntary and conscious breach of his fiscal obligations in Spain".

But Ronaldo's lawyers said it is all down to a misunderstanding over what was and was not required under Spanish law, and deny any deliberate attempt to evade tax.

The deal, struck in June last year, had to be agreed with Spain's tax authorities.

Xabi Alonso also facing trial 

Ronaldo is not the only high-profile player to face the wrath of Spain's tax system.

His former Real Madrid team-mate Xabi Alonso also appeared in court on Tuesday in connection with similar offences amounting to about €2m.

Alonso was appearing before the court for the first time, facing a potential sentence of up to five years. Unlike Ronaldo, he has not yet struck any deal with authorities and has maintained his innocence.

Shortly after Alonso's trial began, the court suspended proceedings to consider whether it was competent to hear the case, or if it should be referred to another criminal court, EFE reports.

The longer sentence prosecutors are seeking means that Alonso could, unlike Ronaldo, face jail time. 

There are several other examples of footballers facing Spain's courts in recent years:
  • Barcelona star Lionel Messi avoided a jail sentence for a similar scheme involving image rights, paying several million in a "corrective payment" in back taxes and fines 
  • Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior was at the centre of a row when Barcelona was fined millions after being charged with tax fraud over Neymar's signing - but avoided admitting the offence
  • Real Madrid's Marcelo Vieira admitted to tax fraud and accepted a four-month suspended jail sentence over his use of foreign firms to handle almost half a million euros in earnings 
The recent crackdown on high-profile footballers follows the removal of a tax exemption in 2010. Known as the "Beckham law", it had allowed footballers to curb their taxes.

Ronaldo also faces another ongoing legal battle: the football superstar is accused of rape in Las Vegas in 2009, a charge which he denies.



Ronaldo-related tweets:

 

 

 

 

Comments

Anonymous said…
Hi Graham, I think that this kind of legal battles are rather far of our vital experiences. I can find several conclusions about this story, but, unfortunately, all negatives.

The first conclusion is focused on the protagonist, Cristiano Ronaldo, a millionaire football player whose behaviour is absolutely cynical, giving a thumbs-up and unfazed by the media presence. How can he say that everything has been a misunderstanding? How can he affirm that he never attempt to evade tax? If we believe in yours words, we have to think that he has double personality, clever and sagacious as football player and silly and irresponsible when he lives out the stadium.

The second conclusion is related to the audience that admire him. If we pay attention to the reaction of the supporters, the lamentable conclusion is that Ronaldo for them is not a delinquent, a guy who has stolen more than 5 million euros to the Spanish state. Apparently this is not important for the supporters, who consider the football as the only important thing in the life.

The third conclusion is related to Spanish justice. I wonder if the prosecutor would have given the same treatment to another person with the same level of guilt. It seems that to be a football star is truly determining. Of course it is suspicious that Ronaldo doesn’t go to jail only for a month.


José Luis, proffesor
Tuesday, 29 January, 2019
Graham said…
Hello José Luis,

I am not excusing him, but I doubt Ronaldo instructed his accountants to evade taxes. If anything, he followed the advice of his advisors.

For most people, it is difficult to comprehend why the super-rich need to add to their wealth through tax avoidance or evasion. However, I am sure that if those same people were to suddenly come into money, they would try to hang onto as much as they could.

What struck me most, when seeing Ronaldo leave the court, was the absence of any booing or name calling. Had it been a politician or a businessman, they would have had to face a hostile crowd.


I think that this kind of legal battles are far removed from the average person's life. I have arrived at several conclusions regarding this story, but, unfortunately, all negative ones.

The first conclusion is focused on the protagonist, Cristiano Ronaldo, a millionaire football player whose behaviour is absolutely cynical, giving a thumbs-up and unfazed by the media presence. How can he say that everything has been a misunderstanding? How can he affirm that he never attempted to evade tax? If we , we have to think that he has a double personality; clever and *sagacious as a football player and silly and irresponsible out of the stadium.

The second conclusion is related to those that admire him. If we pay attention to the reaction of the supporters, the lamentable conclusion is that for them, Ronaldo is not a criminal, a guy who has stolen more than 5 million euros from the Spanish state. Apparently this is not important for the supporters, who consider football as the only important thing in life.

The third conclusion is related to Spanish justice. I wonder if the prosecutor would have given the same treatment to another person with the same level of guilt. It seems that being a football star is truly determining. Of course, it is suspicious that Ronaldo doesn’t even go to jail for a month.

* I had to look up this word. I'm not so wise or "saggio" as they would say in the Bel Paese.

Wednesday, 30 January, 2019
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