Football: Mourinho, Ronaldo deny tax evasion claims

London: Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho and Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo on Saturday denied hiding millions of euros in offshore accounts in a effort to avoid the tax man.

An international consortium of media organisations claimed that a huge data leak involving 18 million documents showed Portuguese skipper Ronaldo hid 150 million euros from image rights in a British Virgin Islands tax havens.

According to the European Investigative Collaborations (EIC) consortium, Mourinho is said to have concealed 12 million euros in a Swiss account owned by a British Virgin Islands company.

But Gestifute, a firm representing the two men, has rejected allegations of facilitating tax evasion.     

In a statement, the company, founded by agent Jorge Mendes, said: "One newspaper makes the unfounded allegation that Gestifute, its clients and its advisers of having, directly or indirectly, created, organised or designed tax structures to facilitate tax evasion using tax havens.

"The most serious and malicious allegations in the inquiries relate to Jose Mourinho and Cristiano Ronaldo."

It added: "Both Cristiano Ronaldo and Jose Mourinho are fully compliant with their tax obligations with the Spanish and British tax authorities.

"Neither Cristiano Ronaldo nor Jose Mourinho have ever been involved in legal proceedings regarding the commission of a tax offence.

"Any insinuation or accusation made to Cristiano Ronaldo or Jose Mourinho over the commission of a tax offence will be reported to the legal authorities and prosecuted."