Real Madrid star gets four-month prison sentence

Real Madrid defender Marcelo is the latest footballer to have been accused of tax frauds in Spain. Reportedly, the defender has agreed upon a four-month suspended prison sentence. If that is the case, Marcelo will pay a fine of £670,000 for the offence.

The case is not new as the Brazilian has been faced with the charges for irregularities in the handling of his image rights by foreign firms. Dating back to 2013, Marcelo has been accused of using the tax structure to earn illegal fiscal benefit by the Madrid public prosecutor.

Real Madrid career

The Brazil defender is an integral part of the Real Madrid since he made his first appearance in 2007. Over the course of 10 seasons with the club, Marcelo has made 323 appearances for Real Madrid and has 23 goals to his name.

Marcelo did not have the best of times during the recently concluded World Cup in Russia but has found some form with the Los Blancos. So far, Real Madrid have been unbeaten in La Liga, winning all three fixture they have been involved in. The European champions seemed to have coped with Cristiano Ronaldo exit, with the likes of Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema raising their game to deliver it for the side.

Read: 5 Big threats to Real Madrid’s title defence

Previous tax frauds

Lionel Messi, Alexis Sanchez and Jose Mourinho have been accused of tax fraud. However, none of the aforementioned spent time in prison as sentences less than two years for the first offence in Spain are suspended. It is likely that Marcelo too will evade prison sentence.

As per the El Mundo report on the case, Marcelo was expected to be slapped with a longer sentence but since admitting to the charges and admitting loaning his image rights to an Uruguayan firm called ‘Birsen Trade S.A., he is able to reduce the sentence.