Jose Mourinho arrives at court in Madrid facing charges of £2.9million tax fraud
Manchester United manager insists appearance related to time as Real Madrid boss will not impact preparations for Chelsea game on Sunday
JOSE MOURINHO arrives at court in Madrid to face charges of a £2.9million tax fraud.
The Manchester United manager is answering allegations referring to his time as Real Madrid boss.
Mourinho arrived at the Court of First Instance and Instruction No 4 in Pozuelo de Alarcon at around 9.30am local time today with his hearing scheduled to begin at 10am.
The court date could not have come at a worse time for the Portuguese, with his United side facing Chelsea on Sunday.
His pre-match press conference - which usually takes place on a Friday - was brought forward to Thursday.
Mourinho appeared in the same building where Cristiano Ronaldo testified in his tax fraud hearing on July 31.
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In the month before, the Portuguese pair's agent Jorge Mendes spoke in front of the judge hearing a similar case involving Radamel Falcao.
Mourinho gave no comment as he made his way past a pack of reporters and cameras outside the main entrance.
However, he did say yesterday that the court appearance would not be a "distraction" for himself or his players.
Mourinho, 54, said: "No, it's just a change of normal training time because I want to be there and I can't be there in the morning so I have to change the timings."
Mourinho's representatives deny that he owes £2.9m in undeclared image rights revenue.
The allegations against Mourinho come after investigations into a number of footballers were brought to court.
Argentines Lionel Messi, Javier Mascherano and Angel Di Maria have all been punished for tax evasion.
A case against Ronaldo is ongoing. He denies any wrongdoing.
