Cristiano Ronaldo has paid the Spanish tax man £12.1million and accepted a two-year suspended prison sentence. It appears the 33-year-old Juventus forward is wasting no time clearing debts and cutting all ties with Madrid and Spain following his transfer from Real to Juve. There are also suggestions he plans to pull his business interests out of the capital. Spanish radio station Cadena Cope reported that Ronaldo has deposited the £12.1m and will also pay a further £4.7m in fines and costs. He will never have to serve the prison sentence because first offences for administrative crimes involving terms of two years or less are not custodial in Spain.

He was furious at being treated like a criminal despite the fact he voluntarily made attempts to put his tax affairs in order in 2014 by making an extra payment of £5m.  He felt the prosecution’s accusation was a result of a difference of interpretation of Spain’s complicated tax laws on image rights and should not have resulted in criminal proceedings.  Ronaldo earned £365,000-a-week at Real Madrid but is expected to take home closer to £500,000-a-week during his three-year deal with Juventus. According to Forbes, he earned an incredible £36million in endorsements on top of his Real Madrid wage in 2017. His fortune reached an estimated £306m as a result. The head of the Spanish League, Javier Tebas, said this week: ‘His net earnings will be higher in Italy than in Spain despite being paid the same gross salary. [On that basis] it was difficult for Madrid to compete with what Juventus were giving him.’

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