Spanish and European champions Real Madrid said on Wednesday they were confident their star player Cristiano Ronaldo, who faces accusations of committing tax fraud in the country, acted legally.
Spanish prosecutors have filed a lawsuit against the player accusing him of defrauding tax authorities of 14.7 million euros by hiding his image rights income between 2011 and 2014.
“Real Madrid have full confidence in our player Cristiano Ronaldo, who we understand has acted in accordance with the legality regarding the fulfilment of his fiscal obligations,” the team said in an official statement on its website.
Ronaldo denied the accusations through his representatives late on Tuesday.
“There is no tax evasion scheme … There has never been any hiding nor any intention to hide anything,” Gestifute, the agency representing the player, said in a statement.
Gestifute said it would publish documents to show the Portuguese player had not created such a structure and had instead used firms he had owned since his time at Manchester United that both British and Spanish tax authorities had been aware of.
The agency also said the case could relate to different interpretations between the British and Spanish tax systems over where to declare some revenues but would in any case not constitute fraud.
Ronaldo led Real Madrid to their 12th European Cup earlier this month after scoring two goals in a 4-1 victory over Juventus in the Champions League final, becoming the tournament’s top scorer.