Former Portsmouth chairman Milan Mandaric was on Tuesday charged with two counts of tax evasion relating to his time in charge of the club.
England’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) announced that Mandaric, now chairman of Leicester, had been ordered to appear before City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Feb. 11 in connection with a payment of US$295,000 to another person via a bank account in Monaco.
Mandaric was first informed of the impending charges last month, at which point his solicitors confirmed that they related to monies paid to former Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp.
Mandaric and Redknapp both deny any wrong-doing. Mandaric’s solicitors have indicated that they will call in tax experts to dispute the authorities’ position that the payment was liable for tax and national insurance.
The CPS said in a statement that there “sufficient evidence” that tax and national insurance had been avoided and that it was “in the public interest to charge Mr Mandaric with two counts of cheating the public revenue.”
Redknapp, now the manager of Tottenham, was also informed last month that he would face charges in relation to the payments and is awaiting a date for a preliminary court hearing.
As well as pursuing Mandaric, Redknapp and Storrie individually, the UK tax authorities are seeking to have Portsmouth wound up because it does not believe it will be able to recover tax, national insurance and value added tax payments they say they are owed by the club.
A petition for a move that would effectively result in the club being declared bankrupt was issued last month and a court hearing on the issue is due next month.
Portsmouth were left waiting to discover on Tuesday if their transfer embargo would be lifted by the Premier League after presenting officials with “new information.”
A Premier League spokesman said after Tuesday’s meeting: “Portsmouth have provided the Premier League board with new information regarding their outstanding debt to other football clubs. The Premier League board will now consider this new information and make a decision in due course.”
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
One of Malaysia’s top soccer clubs has pulled out of today’s season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country. It leaves the kickoff of Malaysia’s season this weekend under a cloud following the unprecedented acts of violence against players, which have left the country shocked and angry. Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor said that they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) citing “a series of criminal incidents and recent threats.” Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care