Football Leaks: Monaco forks out millions to Spain in transfer taxes

FRANCE’S football leaks investigation has revealed that Monaco were forced to pay the Spanish taxman €11.7 million over the transfer of stars to Spain as the principality is considered a tax haven by the Spanish government. 

The transfer of James Rodriguez from Monaco to Madrid for €80 million for instance saw Spain’s tax authorities reel in almost €7 million according to French journalists. Monaco are protesting the extravagant sum in the courts but have already paid it in full. 

The news is the latest unravelling of the sport’s notoriously murky transfer and financing set up. In addition to revealing the fees paid by Monaco in taxes, the French arm of the football leaks investigation made other claims on December 21. 

Paul Pogba, the world’s most expensive player, is accused of hiding away in the Channel Islands, while his manager Jose Mourinho is believed to have stashed away tens of millions in tax havens dotted across the globe. 

In Spain Cristiano Ronaldo is accused of the same, while the government demanded last week that newspaper El Mundo hand over all its information related to the football leaks investigation.

Similar to wikileaks, football leaks is a cross-national effort to expose fraud in the football world, with operations underway in 12 European countries.