Samuel Eto'o could face a jail sentence of over 10 years, according to respected Spanish newspaper El Pais, which reports that a Spanish prosecutor is pursuing the striker for alleged tax fraud while at Barcelona.


According to Spanish paper, El Pais, the Cameroon footballer’s alleged tax crimes date from 2006 to 2009 when he played for Barcelona, and he managed to defraud the Spanish government of about 3.5 million euros through an illegal, well crafted structure for his image rights

The report says that the 35 year old Eto’o, started two companies, one in Spain called Bulte opened in 2002 and one in Hungary called Tradesport which allowed him to cleverly divert his image rights and avoid paying for tax . He also through the company structure, allegedly avoided paying tax for the huge money (about 1.5 and 3 million euros a season) he received from his sponsorship with sportswear giants Puma.

Spanish prosecutors are demanding Eto’o be fined around £12m (?€14m),

After leaving Barca, he won the Champions League at Inter before high-profile moves to Anzhi and Chelsea. Since leaving Stamford Bridge he has turned out for Everton, Sampdoria and current side Antalyaspor.

He has scored three goals in eight outings for the Super Lig strugglers this term but missed their previous fixture against Trabzonspor due to a foot injury.

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