"The tax administration accuses the Atletico striker of fraud totalling Sh125 million (1.1 million euros) related to taxes related to his image rights in 2014," daily newspaper El Mundo reported. Two football superstars Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have already paid substantial fines in Spain for the same offence. The tax office suspects the 30-year-old Costa "concealed income" from a sponsorship deal he signed with Adidas shortly before he joined Chelsea from Atletico in 2014. A Spanish court in January handed Portuguese striker Ronaldo a suspended two-year prison sentence for committing tax fraud when he was at Real Madrid. Barcelona's Messi paid a two-million-euro fine in 2016 in his own tax wrangle and received a 21-month jail term.

Source: Daily Nation April 17, 2019 14:26 UTC