Manchester United manager, Jose Mourinho, has become the latest high-profile football personality to be accused of tax fraud by Spanish prosecutors.
It comes barely two weeks after compatriot, Cristiano Ronaldo, who he coached at Real Madrid and shares the same agent with, was at the receiving end of similar claims.
Ronaldo, who is set to give evidence in his case on 31 July, denies the accusations and is threatening to leave Spain.
The charges against Mourinho date back to his time in the Spanish capital, when the Portuguese coach is alleged to have made two offences in 2011 and 2012, totalling to around €3.3m (£2.91m).
A prosecutor said he did not declare income from the use of his image rights to get an “illicit benefit”.
The United boss has yet to comment on the accusation.
Mourinho and Ronaldo are not the only ones who have fallen into the net of Spanish authorities.
In July 2016, Lionel Messi and his father Jorge were found guilty on three counts of defrauding the tax department to the tune of €4.1m (£3.5m).
Ronaldo and Mourinho are both clients of the football agent, Jorge Mendes. Other Mendes charges being investigated for alleged tax evasion while playing in La Liga include Ricardo Carvalho, Ángel Di Maria and Radamel Falcao.
All are accused of using a similar system, whereby their image rights were owned by companies registered in the British Virgin Islands or Panama, and which allegedly received money from intermediaries based in Ireland.
A statement released by Mr Mendes’ company Gestifute last week, countering reports that he was being investigated alongside Radamel Falcao, said that the Portuguese agent did “not participate or offer any services related directly or indirectly with financial, tax or legal consulting for his clients”.
