José Mourinho accepts one year sentence for tax fraud but won’t face prison time

Former Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has accepted a one year prison sentence for tax fraud but will not serve any prison time.

The Portuguese manager has been arguing with Spanish authorities over money owed from his time in charge at Real Madrid back in 2011-2012 totalling an estimated €3.3m.

A one year sentence was today agreed in Spain with his sentence being exchanged for money rather than him going to prison.

Mourinho will be hit with two separate fines the first being of €182,500 while he will also be fined €2m. As the tax authorities aim to get back the amount of money that was supposedly hidden by him.

As a general rule, Spain doesn’t usually enforce sentences that are two or fewer years for first-time offenders or non-violent cases which is the category this case falls under.

The deal had been agreed prior to Mr Mourinho arriving in court when he accepted the deal. During hearings in the past prosecutors have suggested that his multiple business entities that were created in the British Virgin Islands and elsewhere to manage his image rights were actually hiding his financial gain.

It was argued that these businesses helped obscure his financial gain which allowed him to have these monetary values undeclared in his tax statements.

The former Real Madrid manager is just another name on the pile of football stars to receive similar punishment, Lionel Messi and Neymar have been involved in legal battles with the Spanish tax authorities.

While in January, Cristiano Ronaldo accepted a fine of €18.8m and a suspended 23-month jail sentence, which involved the player’s image rights.