Cristiano Ronaldo "strongly denied allegations he defrauded the Spanish tax office" of €14.8M ($16.6M), according to Jack Austin of the London INDEPENDENT. A statement from Ronaldo's management company, Gestifute, said, "Cristiano Ronaldo signed for Real Madrid in 2009 under the Law of Impatriots, legislation in force and prevailing then, and he was taxed only for the incomes that were attributable to Spain. ... In conclusion: the declared amount can be discussed, but it is clear that the football player did not try to evade taxes." Real Madrid said in a statement, "Real Madrid CF shows their full confidence in our player Cristiano Ronaldo, who we understand has acted in accordance with the legality regarding compliance with their tax obligations" (INDEPENDENT, 6/14).
SPECIAL REQUEST: EL CONFIDENCIAL reported Real Madrid requested that various media outlets "use pictures of Cristiano Ronaldo in which he is not wearing a Real Madrid shirt." The team "understood that the news about Ronaldo being accused of fraud could not be explained or mitigated." But Real Madrid wanted the coverage to refer to "Cristiano Ronaldo the Portuguese footballer," not the "leader and one of the captains of Real Madrid" (EL CONFIDENCIAL, 6/14). In Valencia, Carlos Bosch reported the request by Real Madrid "had an effect." The news broke on Tuesday and "for most of the day, As and Marca's stories showed Ronaldo wearing Real Madrid gear." The Wednesday editions of those publications "met the request of the club: Cristiano was not wearing the Real Madrid shirt, instead appearing in a Portugal shirt." The "same thing happened with El Mundo and El País" (SUPERDEPORTE, 6/14).
