Ronaldo accused of tax fraud totalling €14.7million

Cristiano Ronaldo has been accused of defrauding Spanish tax authorities out of €14.7million.

Prosecutors in Madrid have filed a complaint to a court in Pozuelo de Alarcon in which they accuse the Real Madrid star of a “voluntary” and “conscious” breach of his tax obligations, news agency EFE have said.

Ronaldo is alleged to have created a “business structure” in 2010 to conceal his earnings from image rights between 2011 and 2014, according to a letter sent to the court by the prosecutor’s office.

The Portugal captain, named by Forbes this month as the world’s highest-paid athlete, is claimed to have defrauded the Public Treasury out of a total of €14,768,897.

Gestifute, the company owned by Ronaldo’s agent Jorge Mendes, have so far been unavailable for comment.

Ronaldo moved to Madrid in 2009 after Manchester United accepted a then-world record transfer offer of £80m.

He has won 11 major trophies in his time in Spain, including a LaLiga and Champions League double in the 2016-17 season.