Forlorn Ronaldo gets court date amid Real limbo
Print Edition
CRISTIANO Ronaldo’s woes deepened yesterday when the star striker who reportedly wants to quit Real Madrid was summoned to appear before a judge investigating tax fraud.
Ronaldo, 32, said to have vowed that he would never play for Real again, was summoned to appear in a Madrid court on July 31 to answer four counts of tax evasion of 14.7 million euros (US$16.5 million).
Spanish tax authorities are also targeting Jose Mourinho, the Manchester United manager who was yesterday accused of evading 3.3 million euros in tax during his stay at Real.
Unhappy Ronaldo, the four-time world player of the year, has left his future at the Spanish giant in doubt and has been linked to United and other top clubs after angrily announcing last week that his “conscience is clear”.
According to media reports Ronaldo is unsettled at Real because he believes the European champion did not back him as fully as he had hoped in his dispute with the taxman.
And he has also complained on multiple occasions in the past about Real supporters, who have resorted at times to jeering and booing his performance.
However, club president Florentino Perez disclosed that no offers had been received to tempt Ronaldo away and Real was determined to keep him.
“Ronaldo is a Real player and will continue to be so as far as we are concerned,” Perez told Marca sports daily yesterday. “No offer has been received for him.”
In an earlier report Marca said Ronaldo has told his teammates he was leaving and “there is no turning back”.
Portuguese sports daily A Bola had also claimed that Perez had already been informed of the player’s decision.
However, Perez said that he had not spoken to Ronaldo, who is on duty for Portugal at the Confederations Cup in Russia, which ends on July 2.
He also confirmed that Ronaldo’s contract was ring-fenced by a 1-billion euro release clause.
Perez said he could understand why the four-time world player of the year had been upset after he was accused last week of tax fraud.
He said that Ronaldo had clearly done nothing wrong and Perez was appalled that the “presumption of innocence is not respected” by the media who have branded the player a delinquent.
Perez, a 70-year-old construction magnate said to be close to Ronaldo, was elected unopposed on Monday for a third term in charge of Europe’s most successful club.
His first big challenge is keeping Ronaldo at the club he joined in 2009 from United for a record 94 million euros.
United has so far made no comment on reports it is interested in buying back the player for an estimated 200 million euros, on top of the release fee.
Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea are also reported to be interested but Bayern Munich president Karl-Heinz Rummenigge denied the German champion would make an offer.
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