Man United adjust pre-Chelsea prep as Mourinho due at tax hearing - 7M sport

Man United adjust pre-Chelsea prep as Mourinho due at tax hearing



Posted Thursday, November 02, 2017 by ESPN

Man United adjust pre-Chelsea prep as Mourinho due at tax hearing
Jose Mourinho is facing charges dating back to his spell in charge of Real Madrid.

Jose Mourinho has altered Manchester United's preparations for Sunday's Premier League clash against Chelsea with his tax fraud case due to be heard in Madrid on Friday, sources have told ESPN FC.

Mourinho has been summoned to answer accusations he defrauded Spain's tax office of €3.3 million between 2011 and 2012 while he was manager of Real Madrid.

He is due in court in Pozuelo de Alarcon in the Spanish capital at 10 a.m. on Nov. 3 -- just 48 hours before United face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

United have so far declined to comment on whether or not they expect Mourinho to attend the hearing.

However, he is scheduled to hold his news conference to preview the game against Chelsea on Thursday, rather than his usual slot on Friday.

Sources have told ESPN FC that the players have been informed they could be required to train later than normal on Friday afternoon before travelling to London on Saturday.

Spanish prosecutors released a statement in June accusing Mourinho of two counts of tax fraud, claiming "corporate structures were used by the accused in order to conceal revenues generated from his image rights."

Mourinho is due to give evidence at the 'Court of First Instance and Instruction No.4' in the same building as fellow Gestifute client Cristiano Ronaldo testified in front of judge Monica Gomez Ferrer in his hearing on July 31.

The 54-year-old is accused by prosecutors at Spain's Hacienda tax authority of a €3.3m fraud on image rights income he received when he was Real Madrid coach in 2011 and 2012. The prosecutors argue that companies in Ireland, New Zealand and the British Virgin Islands were used to hide this income from the Spanish authorities.

Mourinho denied the charges when they were initially issued in June via a statement from his representatives, Gestifute, which read: "Jose Mourinho, who lived in Spain from June 2010 until May 2013, paid more than €26 million in taxes, with an average tax rate over 41 percent, and accepted the regularisation proposals made by the Spanish tax authorities in 2015 regarding the years of 2011 and 2012 and entered into a settlement agreement regarding 2013.

"The Spanish government in turn, through the tax department, issued a certificate in which it attested that he had regularised his position and was in compliance with all his tax obligations."

Mourinho is to be represented on Friday by Jose Antonio Choclan, who is also now representing Ronaldo, after the Portugal captain switched from his previous advisors Baker McKenzie following his July appearance in court regarding an alleged €14.7m fraud on his image rights income.

Manchester United will travel to face Mourinho's former club Chelsea sitting second in the Premier League table, two places and four points above the defending champions.



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