Will the Madrid press treat Cristiano Ronaldo as they did Leo Messi?
Messi was dealt with strongly by the press when he faced tax problems
Ronaldo's alleged fraud is three times as much as Messi's, will he get same treatment?
Sporting news took a backseat on Tuesday when it was revealed Spanish prosecutors had brought charges against Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo for defrauding the tax office of 14.7 million euros between 2011 and 2014.
The problems Ronaldo is having with the tax office are the same as those suffered by Lionel Messi in recente years. That case ended up with the Barcelona star being handed a 21-month suspended prison sentence for tax evasion on his image rights. But beyond those details, it will be curious to see how the Portuguese international is treated in comparison to his Argentine rival.
The 'discrete' front covers of the Madrid papers when news first surfaced of Ronaldo's tax problems was in stark contrast to those dedicated to Messi throughout his process. "A symbol under suspicion," was Marca's title, along with other unforgiving tcovers from ABC, El Mundo and La Razon. "21 months in jail for Messi and his father for an extremely serious fraud offence," said ABC. "Messi dirties his image through tricks to avoid taxes," said El Mundo.
Due to those titles, the photomontages of Messi behind bars -- as done by 'Libertad Digital' -- and the diverse comparisons with people like Jordi Pujol (a Spanish politician involved in a corruption scandal), Messi's image was seriously damaged. Will the same happen with Cristiano? Will the press treat him like they did Messi?
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