Cristiano Ronaldo to start season in court

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Madrid, July 29: Cristiano Ronaldo faces a brutal return to Madrid before starting pre-season training with Real Madrid as he is expected in court on Monday, accused of evading millions in taxes.

The 32-year-old -- the world's highest paid athlete according to Forbes magazine -- will be questioned by a court in Pozuelo de Alarcon, a wealthy suburb of Madrid where he lives, over allegations he evaded 14.7 million euros ($17.2 million) in tax.

The Portuguese star follows in the steps of his arch- rival, Barcelona forward and Argentina star Lionel Messi, who was found guilty of the same offence last year, although the sums involved were smaller.

Madrid's public prosecutors accuse Ronaldo of having taken "advantage of a company structure created in 2010 to hide income generated in Spain from his image rights from tax authorities".

They say this was a "voluntary and conscious breach of his fiscal obligations in Spain". Prosecutors accuse the four-time world player of the year of evading tax via a shell company based in the British Virgin Islands and another in Ireland, known for low corporate tax rates.

In addition, they say the Real Madrid striker only declared 11.5 million euros of Spanish-related income from 2011 to 2014, while what he really earned during that time was close to 43 million euros.

And finally, they accuse him of "voluntarily" refusing to include 28.4 million euros in income linked to the sale of his image rights for the 2015 to 2020 period to a Spanish company. -

Ronaldo has defended himself, saying his "conscience is clear". But the allegations still took their toll, and the man with the "CR7" brand, Real's all-time top goalscorer, threatened to leave Spain over the affair, giving supporters a fright. He has since hinted he will stay on, telling Spanish sports daily Marca that he would like to continue to win trophies for Real.

AFP