Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho was on Tuesday accused of evading €3.3 million (Dh13.5m) in tax at Real Madrid, the public prosecutor’s office in Madrid announced.
The 54-year-old Mourinho, who coached Real Madrid from 2010 to 2013, was accused of “two offences against the public treasury,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
Prosecutors claim that the Portuguese manager – who took over at Manchester United last year – failed to declare income of €1.6m in 2011 and €1.7m in 2012.
In three years with Real Madrid, Mourinho won the Primera Liga (2012) and the Spanish Cup (2011). He also won the Uefa Champions League twice with Porto (2004) and Inter Milan (2010).
The football world in Spain has been rocked by charges of tax evasion or corruption pressed against some of its top stars.
Barcelona star Lionel Messi was sentenced to a 21-month jail sentence and €2.09m fine last year for tax fraud.
The prison term will be suspended as is common in Spain for first offences for non-violent crimes carrying a sentence of less than two years.
The 29-year-old and his father Jorge Horacio Messi were found guilty of using companies in Belize, Britain, Switzerland and Uruguay to avoid paying taxes on €4.16 million of Messi’s income earned from his image rights from 2007-09.
Former Barca defender Javier Mascherano also agreed a one-year suspended sentence with authorities for tax fraud last year.
Meanwhile Brazil star and Barcelona forward Neymar and his parents are due to stand trial for alleged corruption over his transfer from Santos in 2013.
* Agence France-Presse
Follow us on Twitter @NatSportUAE
Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/TheNationalSport
