By Alyssa McMurtry
MADRID (AA) – After making a brief appearance at a court in Madrid on Friday, Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho told reporters he had paid Spanish officials an agreed amount of money to settle his tax evasion trial.
Mourinho said he had agreed on a fixed price to “regulate the situation” with the Spanish court, which had placed him under investigation for allegedly evading € 3.3 million ($3.8 million) in taxes.
“I didn’t argue, I paid, I signed an agreement with the state… and this is all definitely closed,” the Portuguese trainer told reporters outside the court in Madrid, a city he called home while coaching Real Madrid from 2010-2013.
Mourinho is part of a long list of players and coaches related to the Spanish football league who have been accused of dodging taxes, including Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo who is currently fighting charges rated to suspected tax evasion of around $17 million.
“I left Spain in 2013 with the conviction that my tax situation was perfectly legal,” Mourinho told the media on Friday, while sharing his strategy to settle the case rather than fight the charges.
In 2016, Barcelona star Lionel Messi was found guilty of evading more than €4.1 million ($4.8 million) and handed a fine and a 21-month suspended prison sentence.
