Real Madrid: Marcelo admits to committing tax fraud in Spain
By Ben Sundock
Real Madrid left-back Marcelo has pleaded guilty to committing tax evasion after appearing in Spanish court on Tuesday. The Brazilian joins an extensive list of current and former La Liga players to be caught withholding earnings from the government.
No need to worry Madridistas; Marcelo will not miss anytime with the team after what transpired yesterday in the Spanish capital. Marcelo Vieira da Silva Júnior was handed a four-month suspended prison sentence and fined three-quarters of a million euros, according to El Mundo.
Laws in Spain state that a prison sentence of under two-years can be commuted to probation for first-time offenders. So, as we saw with Lionel Messi, Luka Modric, and Cristiano Ronaldo, Marcelo will simply have to stay out of trouble for the next four months in order to be cleared.
According to reports and the Spanish tax agency in charge of the case, the investigation stems from 2011 and 2012 when the fullback failed to pay over €100,000 in both years.
Much like some of his teammates who have been in this same situation, Marcelo failed to pay nearly €1 million in taxes after his image rights were picked up by Uruguayan company, Birsen Trade SA.
The 30-year-old was clearly embarrassed with the entire situation and said that Birsen, “lacks the human and material resources to carry out its functions.”
Marcelo remained in the capital over the international break to train with the club and appear in court. He was not called up to the Brazilian national team who played two matches in the United States over the last week and a half.
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Real Madrid will return to action on Saturday as they travel to Bilbao to face Athletic Club. Marcelo has been quite busy through the first three La Liga matches of the new campaign, starting in and playing all 240 minutes.