Arda Turan, former captain of the Turkish national team and current head coach of Eyüpspor, has been sentenced to one year in prison for tax evasion during his tenure as a football player in Spain in 2015 and 2016.
The verdict was handed down by the 13th Criminal Court of Barcelona. Turan was accused of evading taxes from the Spanish Tax Office in those years. He received six months for each offense, totaling one year in prison.
Turan, who accepted the verdict and opted for a settlement, has already paid the fines of 303,162 euros ($330,000) for 2015 and 330,000 euros for 2016. The remaining 617,773 euros will be paid in six installments.
Moreover, the sentence has been suspended for two years on the condition that Turan does not commit any further offenses, meaning he will not serve time in prison.
According to the document prepared by the prosecutor, Turan did not declare his personal income and evaded tax payments in Spain despite being a taxpayer for personal income tax in Spain and earning significant income in 2015.
Turan played for Atletico Madrid from 2011 to 2015 and Barcelona from 2015 to 2018.
Several world-renowned footballers have faced similar penalties in Spain in recent years.
Lionel Messi was fined 2 million euros, Cristiano Ronaldo accepted an 18.7 million euro fine, and other players like Marcelo, Fabio Coentrao, Luka Modric and Angel Di Maria also received penalties for tax evasion.
Radamel Falcao, who played for Galatasaray from 2019 to 2021, received a 9 million euro fine for the same offense during his time at Atletico Madrid.
None of the players listed, including Turan, served time in prison, as their sentences were less than two years.
