Juventus superstar Ronaldo accepts £16.6m fine and 23-month jail sentence for tax evasion

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Juventus striker Cristiano Ronaldo appeared in a Madrid court on Monday on tax evasion charges, cutting a deal which included a hefty fine.

The five-time Ballon d’Or winner was sentenced to 23 months in prison and slapped with a £16.6 million fine – according to BBC Sport.

Ronaldo is unlikely to serve any actual jail time though, with sentences under two-years in Spain usually completed on probation instead.

A deal had been pre-arranged by prosecutors and Ronaldo, which meant that his court appearance lasted for only a matter of minutes before he left with his girlfriend Georgina Rodriguez.

The Juve superstar arrived at the courthouse in high spirits, smiling with Georgina in tow in front of a huge media presence, the day after playing for the Serie A giants against Chievo.

The case against Ronaldo centred around image rights, with funds raised allegedly put through low tax companies in foreign countries.

BBC Sport reports that all told, Ronaldo owed €5.7 million in unpaid taxes but his lawyers argued that the whole issue was a misunderstanding and that no deliberate attempts to break the law were made.

Ronaldo in action for Juventus

The 33-year-old is one of the richest athletes in the world of sport, reportedly earning an astounding €105 million per year and thusly this latest fine is unlikely to do much damage to his bank account.

Ronaldo is just the latest in a long line of high-profile players to fall foul of new laws since the removal of tax exemption back in 2010, with the likes of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Marcelo all having faced similar legal battles.

Now that this latest saga is concluded, Ronaldo can get back to focusing on club duties at Juventus, with a huge Serie A trip to Lazio next up on Sunday.

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