Sport latest: Real Madrid’s Marcelo admits tax fraud

Marcelo Real Madrid left - back Marcelo on Tuesday admitted defrauding the Spanish tax authorities of nearly half a million euros, according to a judicial
source .

Brazilian international Marcelo admitted to tax fraud in court in Alcobendas , on the outskirts of Madrid, after being accused using front companies to hide 490 ,917 euros ($ 579 ,348 ) he earned from image rights in the 2013 financial year, a sum which he will now pay back.

The Madrid vice- captain ’s admission of guilt is the first step in a deal he is trying to cut with Spanish prosecutors and officials.

Once drafted, the prospective agreement will be presented to a judge. It will probably include a four- month suspended prison sentence and an additional fine equivalent to 40 percent of the sum he hid from the tax man.

According to reports , Marcelo has used companies in Uruguay and the UK since 2006 to render his income from image rights “ fiscally opaque” .

Marcelo’s trial is part of the Spanish tax authorities ’ offensive on football, which has also caught the game ’s two biggest stars. In 2016 ,Leonardo Messi was fined 2.1 million euros and handed a 21 - month prison sentence , later commuted to another fine , after he and his father were found guilty on three counts of tax fraud totalling 4.7 million euros.

Marcelo’s Real teammate Cristiano
Ronaldo is accused of having evaded 14 . 7 million euros in tandem with his powerful agent Jorge Mendes , who is suspected of helping many of his clients defraud tax authorities .