Portugal and Juventus forward, Cristiano Ronaldo, arrived at a court in Madrid and decided to plead guilty to tax fraud.

The football superstar was accompanied by his lawyers and his partner, Georgina Rodriguez. Ronaldo plead guilty to committing tax fraud and signed a deal with the court which lets him pay €18.8 Million in return for a 23-month suspended prison sentence. As per Spanish law, a jail sentence for first-time offenders that is less than two years is usually always suspended.

In 2017, a state prosecutor accused Ronaldo of four counts of tax fraud from 2011-14 worth €14.7 million and using shell companies outside Spain to hide income made from image rights. 

The news of Ronaldo being let off with just a hefty fine irked a lot of fans and other honest taxpayers who felt that the punishment was too lenient. Take a look at some of the twitter users who voiced their opinions about Ronaldo’s sentence:

Ronaldo joins Messi in becoming another major football superstar who has had their prison sentence suspended for tax fraud. Xabi Alonso, another former Real Madrid player was also was in court in Madrid to face accusations of defrauding tax authorities of about €2 million from 2010-12.

(Header Credit – Wikipedia)