Cristiano Ronaldo Thinks Twice About Leaving Real Madrid Following Franchise President's Show of Support
On the latest rumors surrounding Cristiano Ronaldo's alleged plan to leave Real Madrid, the player is believed to have started reconsidering his decision after Real Madrid President Florentino Perez rallied behind him following tax fraud allegations filed by local authorities in Spain.
Several reports say Perez's recent press conference, which aimed to defend their star player, worked its magic as Ronaldo is now rumored to be considering staying with Real Madrid.
Previously, Spain's tax officials alleged Ronaldo owed authorities tax liabilities that amounted to more than $16 million.
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While Ronaldo has yet to personally address the issue, his representatives have already denied the allegations and promised to soon show the public some documents that will prove the player's tax papers are clean and honest, according to Reuters.
Perez then talked to the local press to express the team's confidence that Ronaldo is a man who does things the right way — even with his tax responsibilities in Spain.
"Cristiano has the same corporate structure he had in England, where he spent many years without problems. I am sure that Cristiano complies with his tax duties, it must be a confusion that will be cleared," the Real Madrid president further explained.
Perez also clarified that Ronaldo remains to be in a contract with Real Madrid and that they have not received any offer for a possible transfer deal that includes the Portuguese player.
According to the same Reuters reports, the famous football player is being accused of giving up his image rights to Tollin Associates Ltd, a company based in the British Virgin Islands. However, the authorities deemed the company suspicious, considering that its "only stakeholder" was Ronaldo.
Added to that, the Spanish tax authorities argued that Tollin Associates Ltd had later on relinquished these image rights to another company called Multisports&Image Management Ltd which is based in Ireland.
In a statement obtained by Reuters, the Spanish prosecutor said: "Ceding image rights to (Tollin Associates) was completely unnecessary and its only purpose was to create a screen to conceal the totality of his image rights income from the Spanish tax authorities."
