Sports stars hit the headlines for their tax affairs

Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Jose Mourinho, Rangers football club. These are names you expect to hear at this time of the year in connection with the player transfer market.

You don’t expect to see them in the financial pages of the newspapers. Yet Mr Messi, Mr Mourinho and the others have been hitting the papers for their tax affairs.

Sports people by their very nature are competitive, so it should be no surprise they compete in the management of their own financial affairs.