La Liga chief says he is certain that Cristiano Ronaldo did not evade tax
La Liga President backs the Real Madrid star who is the centre of a controversy regarding his tax returns.
La Liga President backs the Real Madrid star who is the centre of a controversy regarding his tax returns.
La Liga President Javier Tebas has come out in support of player Cristiano Ronaldo over tax allegations. This comes in the wake of a Treasure Investigation which revealed that the Ballon D’Or winner had diverted €150m through a tax haven in the Carribean. The player has obviously denied these allegations and is certain about his innocence.
At a Spanish Embassy event in Japan, Tebas backed the Real Madrid star, "I am convinced that Ronaldo has not evaded his taxes, and that this will be the end of the story. Ronaldo pays a lot of taxes in Spain, he's aware of his obligations. [He's] a very important player and we want him to stay in La Liga for many years to come.
"What happens is that the best player in the world, along with Messi, has a corporate structure that is perfectly valid and has been for many years."
"When there have been doubts, he has proceeded to voluntarily regularise them," said the La Liga chief.
This public backing by the La Liga President will surely be a morale booster for Ronaldo who has been mired in controversy regarding his tax returns. The scandal was spearheaded by Spanish outlet, El Mundo which claimed that Ronaldo had diverted his money to offshore havens to keep his sponsorship money away from the Spanish tax authorities.
This came from the recent document by Football Leaks which suggested that the player had used a total of 3 separate companies to collect money that he had earned from advertisements, promos and sponsorships.
The Spanish league has been involved in tax controversies for quite some time now after Barcelona’s Lionel Messi was found guilty of not paying the correct amount of tax as per the Spanish law. Things look extremely confusing at the moment since Spanish tax authorities have claimed that Cristiano Ronaldo is clean and his tax returns are up to date.
The State Agency of Tax Administration certified that Ronaldo has been up to date with his financial obligations and had cleared the air about the tax accusations. However, new conflicting reports from Football Leaks have opened up the case again and Ronaldo is amidst the controversy once again.
These reports have hit Ronaldo’s goodwill hard as the player is often hailed for his charity work and work off the pitch. It remains to be seen how true these allegations are, but they have surely opened a new can of worms. Fans will definitely hope that another world class player in Ronaldo is not proven guilty as this would definitely cast a shadow on world football in general.