Jose Mourinho in Spanish court over tax bill
Jose Mourinho has told a Spanish court that a tax bill from his time as Real Madrid boss has been pa..
Jose Mourinho has told a Spanish court that a tax bill from his time as Real Madrid boss has been paid.
The Manchester United manager made a brief appearance before a judge on Friday at the court in Pozuelo de Alarcon, Madrid, to answer questions on accusations of tax fraud.
The 54-year-old was accused by Spanish prosecutors of defrauding the country's tax authorities of €3.3m (£2.9m) in unpaid taxes in 2011 and 2012.
He said: "I was informed that an investigation was opened and they told me that in order to regularise my situation I had to pay a certain amount of money.
"I did not complain (or) appeal and I paid and I signed an agreement and a compliance act with the state, saying the everything was closed.
"For this reason I was here only five minutes to say the same things I am telling you."
The money relates to revenue from image rights, not salary paid by the Spanish club.
The Portuguese coach was in charge of Real Madrid between 2010 and 2013.
After the allegations were announced in June, agency Gestifute – which represents Mourinho – released a statement saying he paid "more than €26m (£23m) in taxes, with an average tax rate over 41%, and accepted the regularisation proposals made by the Spanish tax authorities in 2015 regarding the years of 2011 and 2012 and entered into a settlement regarding 2013".
The agency added that tax authorities issued a certificate which attested Mourinho was in compliance with all of his tax obligations.
Last year, Argentinian footballer Lionel Messi and his father were found guilty on three counts of defrauding tax authorities of €4.1m (£3.6m) from income made out of image rights.
Cristiano Ronaldo, Marcelo, Ricardo Carvalho, Angel Di Maria, Javier Mascherano, Radamel Falcao and Fabio Coentrao are among other players who have or are being investigated.
