With a powerful kick, a graceful turn or a precise punch, sports stars inspire millions around the world.
Not so inspirational though, are some of their tax practices.
On Monday (Jan 16), the Chilean forward Alexis Sanchez from famous English football club Arsenal, admitted to evading 983,443 euros (S$1.49 million) in taxes while at former club Barcelona in Spain.
Here are 6 other sportsmen who have evaded the taxman: 1. Lionel Messi (football)
The 29-year-old Argentine football star of Barcelona fame, was sentenced to 21 months in prison last July, after a Spanish court found that, just as how he evades tackles on the pitch, he evaded taxes off it.
Messi and his father were alleged to have used shell companies in tax havens to protect royalties and licensing earnings from Spanish income tax.
Despite paying authorities five million euros (S$7.5 million) as “corrective payment”, he was made to stand trial. As light prison sentences in Spain under two years are not usually served, Messi will likely serve the duration as probation. 2. Neymar da Silva Santos Junior (football)
Neymar reacts during the Spanish King’s Cup football match between Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao. PHOTO: REUTERS
Messi’s teammate at Barcelona, the Brazilian forward known by fans simply as Neymar, 24, was fined by a Brazilian court 100,000 euros in January last year for unpaid taxes, from his time at former Brazilian club Santos.
In March, he was ordered to pay another 188.8 million Brazilian reals (S$83 million) in penalty, interest and back taxes, on charges of “omitting sources of income from abroad”.
Neymar has maintained that all undeclared money were from payments to a third-party company, and not considered part of his income. 3. Manny Pacquiao (boxing)
Manny Pacquiao delivers a speech during a press conference at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan. PHOTO: AFP
Alas, the Pacman couldn’t fight the taxman.
The 38-year-old Filipino boxer has the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Philippines Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) on his back, for the money he earned from major fights in the US.
Boxing promoter Bob Arum has said that Pacquiao only has to pay taxes in one country, and that he had already paid the IRS via electronic funds transfer.
However, the Philippine government is still demanding 3.3 billion pesos (S$94.15 million), and has frozen some of Pacquiao’s assets under a tax lien, in this long drawn saga. 4. Lindsey Vonn (skiing)
Lindsey Vonn reacts after her training run during the FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup. PHOTO: REUTERS
The American World Cup ski champion was handed a tax lien by the IRS in early April 2012, after not paying outstanding taxes.
The money owed, Vonn explained, was for the 2010 tax year, and she said it had actually been filed on time. Her financial advisor was apparently responsible for not submitting the payment.
The 32-year-old paid off the over US$1.7 million (S$2.41 million) she owed in back taxes, immediately after she became aware of it. 5. Nick Diaz (mixed martial arts)
In a very spectacular series of events in March 2013, the mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter lost an Ultimate Fighting Championship bout for the welterweight title. He said in the ring after the fight that he was retiring, only to join the post-fight press conference midway demanding a rematch, while making the sensational announcement: “I’ve never paid taxes in my life. I’m probably going to go to jail.”
His trainer, Cesar Gracie, later clarified that the 33-year-old American had indeed paid taxes before, and was merely behind on filing his papers. 6. Terrell Owens (American football)
Terrell Owens looks on from the sidelines during the game between the Chattanooga Mocs and Alabama Crimson Tide. PHOTO: AFP
The 43-year-old former American football star owed the authorities US$430,000 from 2005 to 2009, an amount he paid up in 2013.
But in 2014, the American, still had $244,000 in unpaid income tax from 2012.
As of February 2015, Owens – the only player in National Football League (NFL) history to score a touchdown against all 32 teams – still owed $107,000 in income taxes from 2013.
But Owens seems interested in resolving his financial issues.
He signed onto reality show Celebrity Apprentice to learn wealth management from – surprise, surprise – current President-elect Donald Trump.
