Diego Costa is set to face trial for alleged tax fraud on June 4, a week before Atletico Madrid resumes their La Liga campaign after the coronavirus global pandemic.
According to a court filing spored on sky sports, the forward is accused of defrauding the state of more than 1 million euros (£900,000) by not declaring payments of more than 5.15m euros (£4.63m) following his move from Stanford Bridge, Chelsea in 2014.
This is where Liverpool will play their Premier League Final
The Spain international Atletico striker is also accused of failing to declare image rights of more than 1m euros.
Prosecutors in Madrid are set to ask for a six-month prison sentence and a fine of more than 500,000 euros (£450,000).
In Spain, sentences below two years for non-violent crimes can be exchanged for a fine, so if the player is found found guilty, He would avoid prison if he paid an additional fine of 36,500 euros (£32,896).
The court date will take place a week before the resumption of the La Liga season on June 11, following the league’s suspension due to the coronavirus pandemic. Should the forward fail to pay this money, he will have to leave the rest of his teammates to spend the rest of the season in prison.
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Footballers are noted for swerving tax but usually, they pay when they are to do so. Therefore it will be difficult to hear that the former Chelsea forward is in prison.
