Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo accused of massive tax fraud in Spain

Spanish prosecutors have filed a criminal tax fraud lawsuit against Cristiano Ronaldo, alleging that the Real Madrid forward defrauded the Spanish state out of €14.7m (£13m) between 2011 and 2014.

The prosecutor's office in Madrid is alleging that Ronaldo, 32, knowingly used a business structure created in 2010 to hide his income from Spanish authorities, according to the Reuters agency.

The lawsuit is based on a report sent to prosecutors by Spain's tax agency AEAT.

In December, Ronaldo and Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho were accused of being part of tax-avoidance scheme based on claims from a huge document leak.

Ronaldo and Mourinho, who are both represented by agent Jorge Mendes, were alleged to have moved large sums of money to the British Virgin Islands to avoid paying tax on their earnings.

The former was alleged to have moved €63.5m to the Caribbean islands by the end of 2014. Mourinho was reported to have moved €12m into a Swiss account owned by British Virgin Islands company between 2010 and 2013, when he was manager of Real Madrid.

Mendes's company, Gestifute, denied that his clients had avoided paying tax.

"Cristiano Ronaldo and Jose Mourinho are fully compliant with their tax obligations with the Spanish and British tax authorities," Gestifute said in a statement in December.

"Neither Cristiano Ronaldo nor Jose Mourinho has ever been involved in legal proceedings regarding the commission of a tax offence.

"Any insinuation or accusation made to Cristiano Ronaldo or Jose Mourinho over the commission of a tax offence will be reported to the legal authorities and prosecuted."