Ex-Manchester United boss Jos\u00e9 Mourinho has agreed a prison term in Spain for tax fraud but will not go to jail.<\/p>\n
A one-year prison sentence will instead be exchanged for a fine of \u20ac182,500 (\u00a3160,160). That will be added to a separate fine of \u20ac2m.<\/p>\n
Spain rarely enforces sentences of less than two years for non-violent or first-time offenders.<\/p>\n
He was accused of owing \u20ac3.3m to Spanish tax authorities from his time managing Real Madrid in 2011-2012.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors said he created multiple business entities in the British Virgin Islands and elsewhere to manage his image rights.<\/p>\n
They argued that the arrangement was designed to obscure his financial gain from such deals – and he left it undeclared in his tax statements.<\/p>\n
The deal was agreed in advance with tax officials. Tuesday’s proceedings involved the Portuguese national accepting the facts of the case during a brief court hearing.<\/p>\n
He is the latest high-profile football personality to strike a deal with Spanish authorities, which are pursuing a crackdown on tax evasion or fraud by the country’s many resident star players.<\/p>\n
In January, Cristiano\u00a0Ronaldo accepted a fine of \u20ac18.8m (\u00a316.6m) and a suspended 23-month jail sentence<\/a>, in a case which was also centred around tax owed on image rights.<\/p>\n He was playing for Real Madrid at the time of the offence between 2010 and 2014 – the same team Mr Mourinho was managing at the time of his own tax violation.<\/p>\n Unlike the Ronaldo case, Spanish media were not told about Tuesday’s hearing, so there was no crowd to meet the former Manchester United manager, who lost his job last month.<\/p>\n Another former Real Madrid star, Xabi Alonso, is also facing charges over alleged tax fraud amounting to about \u20ac2m, though he denies any wrongdoing.<\/p>\n Marcelo Vieira, who still plays for the club, accepted a four-month suspended jail sentence last September over his use of foreign firms to handle almost half a million euros in earnings.<\/p>\n Barcelona’s Lionel Messi and Neymar have also found themselves embroiled in legal battles with the Spanish tax authorities.<\/p>\n Source: bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"