In what is becoming a regular occurrence alongside the usual transfer rumors and World Cup qualifying matches that will take place this footballing summer, another famous foreign footballing figure is being dragged to court by Spanish tax authorities. This time it is a manager rather than a player though that has found this cross-hairs of the law, former Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho is accused of withholding roughly 3 million euros worth of taxes through shady business dealings. This sounds like a lot but given the other accused footballing party’s sums the self-proclaimed “Special One” may also consider himself the lucky one as Lionel Messi was accused of defrauding 4.1 million which led to both he and his father receiving 21 month suspended prison sentences. Not to be outdone Cristiano Ronaldo is accused of withholding almost 15 million in taxes which reportedly has the Portuguese forward so incensed he wants to leave Real Madrid (for the sake of irony it may be poignant to mention that both Mourinho and Ronaldo share the same agent, Jorge Mendes).
This move by the Spanish tax authorities begs two questions; 1) what are foreign players and managers doing in their financial dealings that have seen Messi, Ronaldo, Mourinho, Radamel Falcao, and others all come under the microscope? 2) Will these investigations (regardless of merit) lead to stars either leaving La Liga in Spain for less scrutinized pastures and will current stars see themselves out as efficiently as their contract allows? The first question can be answered by recent history as according to the BBC in the first decade of the 21st Century foreign footballers received sweetheart deals which they did not have to pay as high a percentage of taxes on their wages as others living and working in Spain, this set of bureaucratic mechanisms called Beckham’s Law (after English player David Beckham) was abandoned right around the peak of the Great Recession and since then Spanish authorities have been vigilant in sniffing for fraud. Whether or not Mourinho (who currently manages Manchester United) sees a day of jail time is doubtful but given the current pattern, it would be reasonable to expect more names to be ensnared.
