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21st Jan 2016

Javier Mascherano takes a uniquely Irish approach to explaining his jail sentence

It was someone's else fault

Kevin McGillicuddy

The money was only resting…

teddy

Javier Mascherano’s viewing of ‘Making a Murderer’ may be about to get much closer to home.

The former Liverpool man hasn’t killed anyone, of course, but he could end up like poor Steven Avery if he isn’t careful after being hit with a one-year jail term for tax offences in Spain.

He’s not likely to serve any actual time for his transgressions, after a court found the midfielder had failed to pay nearly €1.5m in taxes for 2011 and 2012.

The money concerned was understood to be from an imaging rights deal with Mascherano also fined close to €800,000 for his law breaking ways this afternoon.

The former West Ham man issued a sheepish statement via his Twitter account tonight to explain away his tax woes and it seems like a very Irish explanation for today’s prison sentence

“I’m a sporting professional, I don’t have a great understanding of tax and legal matters. Therefore, to deal with what are for me technical and complicated matters, I have to rely on other people.

“Throughout all my career I have been an honest person, responsible and respectful of my team-mates and the clubs that I have played for and the countries I have lived in.

“I reserve the possibility of action against those who have badly advised me by recommending something that was not right.”

 

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