ATHENS // French striker Djibril Cisse has agreed to settle a tax debt to the Greek state through a new measure allowing it to be paid in 100 instalments, the sport24.gr website reported.
The former Panathinaikos player owes more than €300,000 (Dh1.2 million) in taxes and surcharges from when he played for the club between 2009 to 2011, the website reported.
Cisse, the former France international who plays for JS Saint-Pierroise on the French island of Reunion, located in the Indian Ocean, arrived in Greece on Tuesday with his wife and four-month-old child for a working holiday during which he will DJ in Athens and the island of Mykonos.
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According to the website, Cisse was under the impression that Panathinaikos had taken care of his tax obligations, but the club said no such clause was in his contract.
By accepting to pay his debt in instalments, Cisse will be granted a 30 per cent reduction in the penalties and surcharges.
The website said Cisse, who turns 34 next month, will pay the tax office every month for the next eight years.
Cisse would not have had to pay the penalties and surcharges if he had paid the whole sum in one go, according to legislation adopted by the leftist Greek government Syriza this year to help the country face its debt problems.
Cisse earned 41 caps with France from 2002 to 2011 and scored nine goals.
On a club level, besides his current team and Panathinaikos, he has played for Bastia, Kuban Krasnodar, Al Gharafa, Queens Park Rangers, Lazio, Sunderland, Marseille, Liverpool and Auxerre.
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