What’s the story?
Reputed Spanish daily AS are reporting that Cristiano Ronaldo had already made his decision to leave Real Madrid two months ago. He had revealed this to his friend and agent Jorge Mendes, along with his inner circle of close friends but had heeded their advice not to make it public until the season got over
This throws a new light on the recent reports that claimed Ronaldo has made an irreversible decision to leave the European Champions.
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In case you didn’t know
Ronaldo has been accused of defrauding the Spanish taxman of 14.7 million Euros by way of not paying tax correctly on the revenues accrued through his image rights, to know more about the intricacies of the case (and Leo Messi’s) why not have a gander at this: What exactly did Cristiano Ronaldo do wrong? How does it differ from Lionel Messi?
The heart of the matter
Ronaldo’s main annoyance comes from the belief that he has not be accorded due respect by the club where he has spent eight years amassing goal after goal. The Portuguese superstar feels that he has been treated poorly and unjustly – he is said to have spoken to his inner circle and explained that he has never tried to cheat the Spanish tax authorities and that he has always told his fiscal and legal advisors to follow the letter of the law.
While at the time his inner circle managed to calm him down by explaining that the matter was simply a matter of changes made in the Image Rights laws made by the Spanish government and while Mendes managed to convince him to keep silent so as not to destabilize the team during the tense, crucial, run-in.
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Here are all the details of the sticky case, and the timelines involved:
Author’s Take
Defrauding the authorities is never something to be condoned, and now that two of the sport’s biggest heroes stand accused of what basically amounts to cheating it leaves a black mark on the game. While it’s understandable that Ronaldo may not have been aware of the intricacies of the legal system, it surely is the job of his army of advisors to do so. Ignorance of the law is simply no excuse – as the Spanish Courts ruled in Lionel Messi’s case – and it follows reason that this case too will follow the same path.
As far as the threat is concerned, while it was initially thought of as a knee-jerk reaction that was more a result of anger than anything else, this new revelation means that there actually might be more than a decent chance that Cristiano Ronaldo may be on his way out of Real Madrid - if that does happen... what a bitter way to end what has been a brilliant relationship between club and player
