The Spanish Treasury have given their approval after Real Madrid and Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo accepted an €18.8 Million fine and handed a suspended two year prison sentence as part of a tax fraud case.
It has been revealed that Ronaldo committed a total of four years worth of fraud, which reached 14,768,897 euros, according to Spanish publication Marca.
Now there has been an agreement of a two year prison sentence, and because it was his first offence, he will not serve any of that term.
Ronaldo after winning the Champions League. Image: PA Images
The forward had admitted four charges of fraud and had accepted the settlement of £16.5 million. Spanish newspaper El Mundo reported that last September the player had offered £12.9 million but it had been rejected by the Spanish government.
Spanish law allows someone who has no previous criminal record and receives a sentence of two years or less to serve it as a suspended sentence.
The story about Ronaldo’s tax fraud came out over a year ago and the perceived lack of support from the club led the former Manchester United player to claim he no longer wanted to play in Spain.
Of course the 33 year old ended up staying at the Bernabeu, picked up his second ‘The Best’ award and fifth Ballon d’Or just months later and went on to win the FIFA Club World Cup and Champions League last season.
Once again this summer there are talks that Ronaldo wanted to leave the club and as we know, he eventually joined Serie A side Juventus.
He claimed after the Champions League final that he could leave with subsequent reports claiming his decision to leave was ‘irreversible.’
Manchester United and PSG were previously linked with moves for the former Sporting man but he a move to Italy was clearly in his mind at the time.
Thoughts on the sentence?
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Credit : sportsbible.com