Cristiano Ronaldo has been handed a two-year jail sentence and will pay €18.8m in a deal with the Spanish court in a high-profile tax evasion case.
Ronaldo, who is with the Portuguese national team at the World Cup in Russia, has agreed to pay a fine for four tax offences and will be given a two-year jail sentence.
There will be no handcuffs and prison slop for this young man, oh no, as under Spanish law, a sentence of two years or under for a first time offender can be served on probation. If Ronaldo behaves himself for 24-months, he will not see the inside of a prison cell and is free to pursue his lucrative career.
Ronaldo stood accused of evading tax payable on earnings from his image rights while resident in Spain. At first, the footballer denied all allegations but later he pleaded guilty to the offences and will pay the pay back €5.7 million in tax, plus fines and interest.
The conclusion includes absolving Ronaldo’s advisors, his agent Jorge Mendes and his lawyer Carlos Osório, of any wrongdoing despite both being accused of setting up the devious scheme to hide the star’s image rights income from the taxman.
The deal needs to be signed off by the new director of the Spanish Tax Agency and all criminal and administrative proceedings will be halted, just as Portugal takes on Spain in Friday evening’s first Round ‘B’ match in the World Cup.
