Star of Real Madrid Cristiano Ronaldo Appears Before Madrid Tribunal

The Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo appeared before a tribunal near Madrid on Monday for an alleged multimillion-dollar fraud, as part of the Spanish justice's offensive against tax irregularities in football.

The four-time Ballon d'Or winner, the Portuguese forward, arrived at the court in Pozuelo de Alarcón, an affluent municipality neighboring the Spanish capital where he resides, to give a closed-door statement.

The 32-year-old player was supposed to be notified that he is being investigated for an alleged tax fraud of 14.7 million euros, related to his image rights.

The appointment with justice caused him to miss the friendly "clásico" in Miami, which FC Barcelona won 3-2 against Real Madrid on Saturday.

Considered by Forbes magazine as the highest-paid athlete in the world, Ronaldo is the latest in a long list of footballers who appear before the court.

His rival at FC Barcelona, the Argentine Lionel Messi, was declared guilty of the same crime last year. In addition to Messi, in 2016, two other stars of the Catalan team, Neymar and Javier Mascherano, were convicted.

The Spanish tax authority's offensive has also gone against footballers or coaches who passed through Real Madrid: Ronaldo, Ángel di María, José Mourinho, Fabio Coentrao. Not to mention the agent of all these individuals, the Portuguese Jorge Mendes, indicted in June by a judge of the Pozuelo court.

Against Ronaldo, the prosecution has said that between 2011 and 2014, he used a network of companies based in Ireland and the British Virgin Islands "to hide income generated in Spain from image rights, which entails a 'voluntary' and 'conscious' failure to fulfill his tax obligations in Spain."

In 2014, he declared his income belatedly, despite residing in Spain since 2009, reporting earnings of around 11.5 million euros for the period between 2011 and 2014, when in reality they would have been around 43 million.

In addition, according to the prosecution, 28.4 million euros were concealed from the tax administration, corresponding to image rights for the period from 2015 to 2020.

In total, Ronaldo would have evaded paying 14.7 million euros.

Clear Conscience

The number 7 of Real Madrid, winner of the Spanish League and the Champions League last season, has stated that his "conscience is clear."

His agent's company, Gestifute, has defended his innocence, denying any tax setup or income concealment by the player.

The headlines about his alleged fraud did not sit well with the Portuguese, who expressed his weariness on several occasions. So much so, that there was speculation about his departure from Real Madrid, where he arrived in 2009 and became the club's top scorer in history.

After weeks of speculation, Ronaldo seemed to confirm last week that he was staying with the white team, stating to the Marca newspaper that he would like to continue winning trophies for Real Madrid.

If convicted, "CR7" faces a minimum fine of 28 million euros, according to the union of technicians from the Spanish Ministry of Finance, Gestha.

This amount represents a third of what he earned last year, about 93 million dollars (80 million euros), according to Forbes magazine.