Jose Mourinho Avoids Jail Time in Tax Fraud Case, Will Pay €2M-Plus in Fines

Former Manchester United, Chelsea and Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho has agreed a prison term with Spanish authorities to settle a tax fraud case and will not serve time behind bars.

Per the BBC, Mourinho will instead pay a fine of €182,500 (£160,160) to avoid a stint in jail in addition to a separate €2 million penalty.

As noted in the report, Spanish courts rarely require prison sentences of under two years to be served by first-time offenders for crimes of a non-violent nature.

Mourinho was accused of defrauding the Spanish taxman out of €3.3 million between 2011 and 2012, when he was in charge of Real Madrid by concealing earnings from his image rights.

He is said to have accepted the deal on Tuesday at a court hearing.

Per the report, Spanish authorities are looking to clamp down on tax evasion and fraud, resulting in some high-profile cases involving footballers being settled in a similar manner to Mourinho's.

Former Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo accepted an €18.8 million fine in January. Allegations made against him date back to 2017, with EFE (h/t BBC) reporting the Portuguese owed €5.7 million following four separate breaches of fiscal regulations.

Current Real Madrid left-back Marcelo agreed a four-month suspended prison term in September, while former Los Blancos midfielder Xabi Alonso has also been accused of wrongdoing, although he has denied the allegations. 

Mourinho is currently out of work after he was sacked by Manchester United in December following the team making their worst start of the Premier League era.