Mourinho and Ronaldo could face probe on tax fraud claims

The data leak was being investigated for the past several months by a group of pan-European media organisations, amid claims of Jose Mourinho and Cristiano Ronaldo being involved tax evasion. The allegation brought against Mourinho claims that the United manager's advisers may have helped him move large sums of money to Switzerland and the British Virgin Islands to avoid paying tax. Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo has also been accused of having allegedly moved money to a "tax haven".

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

However, MP Meg Hillier, the Chairman of the Commons public accounts committee, has urged the authorities to launch an investigation to check the validity of these claims. She said, "These revelations are extraordinary and warrant a close examination by the UK tax authorities.”

An HMRC spokesman said: "HMRC carefully scrutinises the arrangements between football clubs and their employees in respect of any image right payments to make sure the right tax is paid - in recent years we have identified more than £80m in additional tax payable from clubs, players and agents.

The European Investigative Collaborations (EIC) consortium, who are handling the investigation into the leaked documents, have promised to reveal more such information in the coming weeks which will provide "an unprecedented look into the gloomy depths of the modern football industry".