SPANISH PROSECUTORYS HAVE called for Xabi Alonso to be sentenced to five years in prison after the former Real Madrid and Liverpool midfielder was accused of tax fraud.
The Madrid prosecution office announced on Wednesday it was seeking the sentence for an alleged fraud of €2 million between 2010 and 2012.
It is claimed Alonso used a company based on the Portugese island of Madeira to avoid declaring income earned from the 36-year-old’s image rights.
As well as the five-year imprisonment, a fine of €4 million is held against Alonso, his tax advisor Ivan Zaldua and the manager of the Portuguese company, Ignasi Maestre.
The prosecution also demands the return of the sum denied to the Spanish tax office, in addition to any interest gained.
The Madrid court in charge of the investigation reopended the case at the end of 2017 after the judges on appeal found the facts alleged against Alonso were “sufficiently substantiated.”
Alonso, who retired last year after finishing his career at Bayern Munich, is not the first high-profile footballer to have faced problems over Spanish tax in recent years.
Some have admitted fraud in exchange for a sentence to avoid jail, like Manchester United forward Alexis Sanchez, former Barcelona midfielder Javier Mascherano and Real Madrid defender Marcelo.
Barcelona’s Lionel Messi was sentenced to a fine of €2.1 million euros for tax evasion and a sentence of 21 months in prison, subsequently issued as a fine.
Real Madrid striker Cristiano Ronaldo is also charged with alleged fraud of €14.7 million euros, which he denies.
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I wonder will it be as good as the Middleweight fight of Froch V Groves 2, which tool place in front of 80,000 people at Wembley. Not many people know that, Froch is very hesitant to mention it.
@Johnny: that wasn’t at middleweight
@Gareth: Super-Middleweight has the word Middleweight in it, so i stand by my comment haha to many branches of divisions these days all for the sake of 3 or 4 pounds.
@Johnny: these days lol
@Johnny: theres an 8 pound difference between middle and super middle
@Cathal Scully: In the lower weight classes there’s 4/5 lb difference in some, my point about weight classes wasn’t directed specifically at Middleweight. Jesus, a man can put a smart comment up here without getting dogs abuse! Haha
Great fights, felt Hagler did enough to win against SRL, Hagler-Hearns was quality
I’m going for Canelo on points, or possibly a late stoppage. I believe he has superior boxing skills, he’s the younger man and he’s the better all round fighter.