SCANDAL: Cristiano Ronaldo & Xabi Alonso Set To Appear In Madrid Court For Doing This
Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo and former Real Madrid team-mate Xabi Alonso are set to appear in court in Madrid on Tuesday on separate tax-evasion charges.
Ronaldo is expected to plead guilty after he reportedly agreed to a £16.4m fine and a suspended jail term to settle the charges.
Alonso is set to appear before the court for the first time charged with defrauding tax authorities of 2m euros.
He denies any wrongdoing.
Ronaldo and Alonso are among several footballers in Spain – including Barcelona forward Lionel Messi and Real Madrid defender Marcelo. – to have been accused of tax evasion relating to non-declaration of earnings from image rights.
Portugal international Ronaldo, who is expected to play for Juventus against Chievo on Monday, was accused of trying to hide money linked to image rights made between 2011 and 2014 totalling £13m
He offered to pay £12m in June 2017 but the government rejected the offer, El Mundo newspaper reported.
In the case of Alonso, who retired in 2017 after a career including spells at Liverpool and Bayern Munich as well as a World Cup win with Spain in 2010, prosecutors are seeking a five-year jail term.