[Mhiz Rebecca]

Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo wants to
leave the club and Spain after being accused of
committing tax fraud in the country, a report in
Portuguese sports daily A Bola said yesterday.
The newspaper said its story was based on a
reliable source and that the 32-year-old four-
times world player of the year had already made
up his mind to ask the club for a transfer.
It said that Ronaldo was “deeply disenchanted”
with the allegations against him.Spanish
prosecutors have filed a lawsuit against the player
accusing him of defrauding tax authorities of
€14.7 million by hiding his image rights income
between 2011 and 2014. Ronaldo has denied any
wrongdoing.
Real Madrid said on Thursday that they were
confident the Portuguese forward had acted
legally. They could not immediately be reached
yesterday to comment on the report.
Ronaldo led Real Madrid to their 12th European
Cup earlier this month after scoring two goals in a
4-1 victory over Juventus in the Champions
League final, becoming the tournament’s top
scorer.
Ronaldo, Portugal’s all-time leading scorer, is the
latest in a long line of soccer players in Spain –
among them Barcelona’s Lionel Messi and Neymar
– to be caught up in cases over tax or transfers.
Ronaldo has completed eight seasons at Real
Madrid since joining them from Manchester
United in 2009 for a then world record fee of €96
million.During that time, they have won the
Champions League three times and La Liga twice.
In November, he agreed to extend his contract
until 2021.He is currently at the Confederations
Cup in Russia with the Portuguese national team.