Jose Mourinho has reportedly accepted a one-year suspended jail term from Spanish tax authorities for allegedly sheltering €3.3million (£2.9m) of earnings in offshore accounts while at Real Madrid.
The Manchester United manager is said to be escaping jail time over the alleged tax evasion because Spanish law states that a sentence of under two years for a first offence can be served on probation.
Mourinho was accused of using offshore companies in Ireland, the British Virgin Islands and New Zealand to conceal earnings on image rights in 2011. He has reportedly been fined €1.9m (£1.78m).
El Mundo reports that the Office of the Prosecutor and the State Lawyers will “communicate in the next few days… that they have already closed a compliance agreement” with Mourinho over the tax evasion charge corresponding to the years 2011 and 2012.
In November last year, Mourinho said outside court in Pozuelo de Alarcon: “I did not answer, I did not argue. I paid and signed with the state that I am in compliance and the case is closed.”
Spanish courts have cracked down on alleged tax evasion – said to amount to €200million – among football figures, targeting names such as Barcelona’s Lionel Messi and Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo.
Manchester United and the Spanish Tax Agency were not immediately available for comment.
