Flamboyant Brazilian football coach Luiz Felipe Scolari has hit out at Portuguese tax authorities investigating him for alleged fraud.
In an official statement released this week, the much-loved former Portugal team manager said: “In all the countries that I have ever worked, I have always declared my income. I am absolutely sure that I have filled out all my tax returns correctly.”
The Portuguese investigation is said to be focused on the five-year spell between 2003-2008, when Scolari was Portugal’s national team coach.
According to Brazilian newspaper Folha de S.Paulo, the authorities are looking into over €7 million-worth of unreported income allegedly transferred to offshore accounts by the 65-year-old.
The money is thought to have been related to Scolari’s image rights, but other than confirming that an investigation has been opened, the Attorney General’s office has remained tight-lipped.
Needless to say, Scolari appears unruffled.
“If there’s something wrong, it’s not with me. Let the justice system narrow all the facts,” he told reporters as he concentrated on the nitty-gritty of getting Brazil’s squad ready for the 2014 World Cup.
If the national team is successful this year, it will be their first World Cup title since 2002 – when, surprise, surprise, their coach was none other than Luiz Felipe Scolari!
