Mourinho called to Madrid court to testify in €3.3m tax fraud case

November 2 – Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho faces accusations of tax fraud on Friday but it is not clear whether he will appear in court in person.

The summons comes at an awkward time for Mourinho who faces his old club Chelsea in a Premier League battle royal 48 hours later.

The Spanish authorities opened a case against Mourinho in June for alleged tax evasion during his spell as Real Madrid boss. Mourinho has denied tax fraud of €3.3 million. He is alleged to have not declared income from image rights deals to obtain an ‘illicit benefit’, according to Spanish prosecutors. They claim that “corporate structures were used by the accused in order to conceal revenues generated from his image rights.”

Mourinho was due to hold his pre-Chelsea press conference today instead of Friday which is the normal procedure before a weekend fixture. Reports suggest he will travel to Madrid tonight but that has not been confirmed.

Commenting on the allegations against the United boss in June, his representatives, Gestifute Media, said: “Jose Mourinho, who lived in Spain from June 2010 until May 2013, paid more than €26 million in taxes, with an average tax rate over 41%, and accepted the regularisation proposals made by the Spanish tax authorities in 2015 regarding the years of 2011 and 2012 and entered into a settlement agreement regarding 2013.

“The Spanish government in turn, through the tax department, issued a certificate in which it attested that he had regularised his position and was in compliance with all his tax obligations.”

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