Cristiano Ronaldo handed suspended prison sentence, £17m fine for tax evasion in Spain

The UEFA Euro 2016 winner follows the likes of Lionel Messi and Javier Mascherano who had earlier been convicted for tax evasion.

Cristiano Ronaldo has recently been slapped with a hefty fine and a suspended prison sentence for his financial wrongdoings in the past decade. The Ex-Real Madrid player’s first encounter with tax fraud was way back in 2011 and the Spanish government had charged him with four counts of tax fraud between 2011 and 2014.

The tax office in Spain has slapped a huge fine which amounts to nearly £17m and a two-year suspended prison sentence on the Portuguese forward. Although, the 33-Year-old has agreed to these terms, he will not be facing prison time as a deal was struck between the player and the treasury of the government.

Previously, Ronaldo had already paid a fine of £13m for the four-year tax evasion and the Portuguese international will further pay another £4m following his guilty plea. Ronaldo is reported to have created a company in 2010 to mask his earnings and find a way around the tax laws of Spain. The £105m move to Juventus has more or less spelled the end of all ties that he had with Spain and he is said to have sold all of his assets in the country.

Ronaldo will not be heading to prison as a similar sentence was handed to Barcelona star, Lionel Messi and an additional fine amount was paid and the prison sentence was waived off.

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Ronaldo’s anger towards the tax authorities and the practices is said to have been one of the main reasons why the star chose to move to Juventus.

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There is something synonymous about football players getting caught in tax evasion scandals and most of these players have been playing in the Spanish league.

This peculiar relationship started because of the flexible tax laws that Spain made to attract foreign talent to their shores and this tax law soon famously came to be known as the “Beckham’s law” because he was one of the first players to enjoy its benefits. The law meant that foreigners were only going to pay half the amount of what native Spaniards would pay with respect to tax.