Samuel Eto’o has avoided prison after being handed a 22-month suspended sentence for committing tax fraud worth more than £3.3m during his Barcelona career.
Eto’o, 41, failed to declare income from the transfer of image rights between Puma and Barcelona from 2006 and 2009, according to Sport, instead paying taxes via two separate companies set up in Hungary and Spain which limited his costs. He blamed agent Jose Maria Mesalles for “manipulation” and promised a Spanish court he would pay back the money owed.
