Cristiano Ronaldo's representatives have vehemently denied a media report which has led to criticism by a German MEP -- stating firmly that the Portugal captain is "fully compliant with his tax obligations."
Spanish outlet El Confidencial has claimed that Ronaldo uses an Irish holding company called Multisports & Image Management (MIM) Limited to reduce the amount of taxes he pays on income received from sponsors ranging from Nike to Unilever to Kentucky Fried Chicken, with the report also claiming that accountants working for the footballer had companies registered in the tax haven of Belize.
However Ronaldo's agents Gestifute quickly issued a strongly worded statement saying these were "unfounded allegation[s]" based on "stolen information" and that neither Ronaldo nor Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho have ever had any tax issues as all their financial dealings are correct.
"One newspaper makes the unfounded allegation that Gestifute, its clients and its advisers of having, directly or indirectly, created, organized or designed tax structures to facilitate tax evasion using tax havens," the statement said. "The most serious and malicious allegations in the enquiries relate to Jose Mourinho and Cristiano Ronaldo.
"Furthermore, today news have come out insinuating a reprehensible conduct by Cristiano Ronaldo and questioning his good name. In this regard, Gestifute publicly states that: Both Cristiano Ronaldo and Jose Mourinho are fully compliant with their tax obligations with the Spanish and British tax authorities.
"Neither Cristiano Ronaldo nor Jose Mourinho have ever been involved in legal proceedings regarding the commission of a tax offense. Any insinuation or accusation made to Cristiano Ronaldo or Jose Mourinho over the commission of a tax offense will be reported to the legal authorities and prosecuted."
The El Confidencial report, which was based on documents originating from the secretive Football Leaks organisation, was picked up by Sven Giegold, a German Green Party member of the European Parliament.
Giegold linked the Ronaldo allegations to other investigations of underpayment of taxes by top footballers, with Barcelona star Lionel Messi having been found guilty of tax fraud by a Spanish court last summer, after image rights income had been routed illegally through companies in Belize, the UK, Uruguay and Switzerland.
The official financial and economic policy spokesperson of the Greens/EFA group in the European parliament said that Madrid-domiciled Ronaldo using an Irish company to pay a lower rate [12.5 percent compared to 43.5 percent] than he would in Spain was legal but "against the common good."
"The tax dodging practices of football stars are a serious foul play against the common good," Giegold said. "Tax avoidance of Ronaldo and other players is to the disadvantage of their fans and all other honest taxpayers. Not only on the playing field but also when it comes to paying taxes fairplay should be the rule of thumb.
"Once again it is Ireland that promotes tax dumping and takes away tax revenue from other EU countries. The tax tricks of football stars underline the need for curbing tax competition in Europe by introducing common minimum tax rates for companies. The EU Commission has to follow up with a legislative proposal."