Portuguese football thought it had experienced its “black Thursday”, on February 27 with the eliminations from the sixteenth finals of the Europa League of its three flagship teams: FC Porto, Benfica and Sporting Portugal, to which was added that of Sporting Braga. The bad move for the country's UEFA index is already forgotten, swept away by the shock wave that the Portuguese justice system launched on Wednesday [March 4th].
As part of an investigation into suspicions of tax evasion, and with the help of a hundred tax inspectors and 180 gendarmes, fifteen magistrates organized 76 searches in "Various football clubs, their companies and managers, law firms and intermediaries", said the prosecution in a statement.
Some of these operations were carried out in the offices of Benfica, FC Porto, Sporting and Braga, but also on the premises of Gestifute, the company of the all-powerful agent, Jorge Mendes, whose main client is Cristiano Ronaldo . His lawyer, Carlos Osario de Castro, is also involved in the investigation, known as "Operation Offside".
The " Football Leaks "behind the investigation?
According to several local media, the justice is mainly interested in transfer operations carried out from 2015 and "Which would have implied actions intended to avoid tax payments due to the Portuguese State".
These practices, which consisted of "Hide or modify" the amounts of these operations are liable to prosecution for “Aggravated tax fraud and money laundering”, specified the general parquet of the Republic.
The magazine Sábado indicates that the prosecution and the tax administration have opened for almost a month "Five large investigations" which also concern the clubs of Guimarães, Marítimo, Estoril and Portimonense.
Portuguese justice would have relied on documents shared by the "Football Leaks" platform and the whistleblower, Rui Pinto, in pre-trial detention in Portugal since March 22, to launch this unprecedented haul. 2019 and awaiting trial for extortion and computer crimes.
Paradoxically, the hacker prosecuted for 90 offenses by the justice of his country – who has always refused him the status of whistleblower – could well be behind an unprecedented hands-on operation in his country.
If around fifteen magistrates have carried out the investigations, one name has captured the attention of the Portuguese media: that of Carlos Alexander. Nicknamed "the super judge", he became known in 2014 for having remanded the former Socialist Prime Minister José Socrates in the context of an investigation for tax fraud, money laundering and corruption.
His presence alongside the gendarmes appears as a message sent to the clubs and to the other actors concerned by this Wednesday's haul.
