MADRID: Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho was grilled by a judge in Spain on Friday over accusations of a 3.3 million euro ($3.8 million) tax fraud during his time in charge of Real Madrid in 2011 and 2012. After leaving the brief closed-door hearing, the 54-year-old told reporters he had paid everything he owed to the Spanish tax office. “I left Spain in 2013 with the conviction that my fiscal situation was perfectly legal,” he said outside the court in Pozuelo de Alarcon, an upscale Madrid suburb where he used to live.
“Two years later I was told that an investigation had been opened and that to regularise my situation I had to pay a certain amount. I did not debate it, did not appeal it, I paid and I signed an agreement of compliance with the state,” he added.
“Everything was settled. This is why I was here for just five minutes to say the same things I am telling you. I have nothing more to say.”
His court appearance comes just over 48 hours before he is set to return to Stamford Bridge to face old side Chelsea on Sunday.
The Portuguese coach, who wore a suit with no tie, is the latest high-profile football figure to be questioned over his tax affairs in Spain.
Spanish prosecutors accuse Mourinho, who coached Madrid between 2010 and 2013, of failing to declare income of 1.6 million euros in 2011 and 1.7 million euros in 2012.
The basis for the case, as with a series of football stars based in Spain, is how income from Mourinho’s image rights was managed and declared.
Prosecutors believe by ceding his image rights to a series of companies based in tax havens, Mourinho committed fraud by not declaring the income those companies made from his image rights.
During his court appearance, Mourinho only answered questions from his lawyer and refused to take questions from public prosecutors, a court spokesman said, adding that the Portuguese remains under official investigation.
Mourinho is just one of a number of super agent Jorge Mendes’s clients to be investigated in Spain, including World Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo. — AFP
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
