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Former Spanish Tax Authority Dir Claims Real President Florentino Pérez Threatened Strike

Former Spanish tax authority Dir Ignacio Ruiz Jarabo, who served in the position from '98-01, said in an interview with the Cadena SER group's Radio Barcelona that Real Madrid President Florentino Pérez warned he would "shut down the league" if tax inspections into professional clubs continued, according to AS. Ruiz Jarabo said of tax investigations into football clubs, "We decided to investigate the affairs of the clubs and we decided that in a sector like professional football, where the competition is so fierce, we had to carry it out on all the clubs at the same time. We couldn't carry out an inspection on just some clubs and so we set up a tax investigation on all the professional clubs, to be carried out in a harmonized manner, with unified criteria. Once the investigations had started, the clubs saw that we were serious and that the criteria were coordinated and were set to a calendar. We got reliable news that Pérez had asked the Treasury Minister to stop the inspections. It was a demand and he warned that if they didn't pay attention to his demands he'd stop the competition [the league]. At the tax authorities we didn't stop the investigations, we don't investigate tax payers according to what they want, but according to our criteria. ... It seems that Florentino didn't express himself in the most polite way, according to a number of witnesses. At the tax authorities there were some people who agreed with him, but I think the good thing for the Spanish taxpayer is that he didn't get his way. The investigations carried on, and the League wasn't stopped" (AS, 3/9).

NEYMAR TRANSFER 'NOT USUAL': ESPN's Dermot Corrigan reported Ruiz Jarabo said of Barcelona's signing of Neymar in '13 that "it appeared to him that the way the deal was structured -- including a number of side payments to companies run by Neymar's father -- meant less tax was initially paid." Ruiz Jarabo: "All I know is what has come out in the media. But the way the transfer was done is not usual. The result was to pay less taxes than were due. In fact, the club itself has made an extra advance payment, although that is not necessarily an admission that there were taxes they should have paid." He also addressed Lionel Messi, who faces charges for "irregularities in his tax filings," saying, "I am not saying there is persecution. But I do believe that footballers are victims of what in my opinion is an error or mistaken criteria" (ESPN, 3/10).

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