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Cristiano Ronaldo accepts 2yr jail term, €19mln fine after pleading guilty to tax fraud

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Cristiano Ronaldo accepts 2yr jail term and €19mln fine after pleading guilty to tax fraud
Portuguese football icon Cristiano Ronaldo has accepted a prearranged €18.8 million fine and a suspended 23-month jail term for tax fraud in Spain on Tuesday.
The charges relate to his time at former club Real Madrid.

Juventus winger Ronaldo arrived at the Madrid court hand in hand with Georgina Rodriguez and dressed in an all-black outfit finished off neatly with white trainers and shades and gave a thumbs up and grin to the assembled reporters outside.

According to www.rt.com, a judge had earlier rejected his request to enter the building via car to avoid paparazzi, meaning a media scrum greeted the 33-year-old, who found time to sign a sneaky autograph on his way up to the steps to court.

Due to the non-violent nature of Ronaldo’s crime, and Spanish law dictating that a term of under two years incarceration can be served on probation for first-time offenders,the 5-time Ballon d’Or winner will not spend any time behind bars.

That meant just hours after Juventus’ 3-0 Serie A win over Chievo, where he missed a penalty, Ronaldo made the journey from Turin to the Spanish capital, where he was highly expected to plead guilty to defrauding the Spanish treasury and sign a deal on the sentence and fine.

Ronaldo’s court appearance in the Spanish capital lasted just 15 minutes as the player needed simply to sign off paperwork for the previously agreed settlement in court, Reuters reported.

Earlier, Ronaldo’s former Real Madrid team mate Xabi Alonso walked in to face own tax fraud case with his hands deep in his suit pockets. “Yes, all good,” was his only response to reporters’ questions.

Former Manchester United and Sporting Lisbon winger Ronaldo has reportedly already paid a tax office penalty in the sum of €13.5 million, after accepting charges he defrauded the court to the tune of €14.7 million.

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Lloyd M’bwana

I’m a Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resource (LUANAR)’s Environmental Science graduate (Malawi) and UK’s ICM Journalism and Media studies scholar. Also University of Malawi (UNIMA) Library Science Scholar. I have been The Malawi Country Manager and duty editor for the Maravi Post since 2019. My duty editor’s job is to ensure that the news is covered properly, that it is delivered on time, and that it is created to the standards set out in the editorial guidelines of the Maravi Post.