Eto'o faces massive tax fraud charges

Spanish prosecutors have recommended that Cameroonian football great Samuel Eto'o be handed a 10-year jail sentence and pay a staggering 18-million-euro ($19 million) fine, a court filing revealed on Thursday.

The prosecutor alleges that Eto'o set up a series of front companies to avoid paying taxes during his decade of soccer success in Spain's La Liga where he notably fronted Barcelona's attack.

The main charges focus on a company Eto'o allegedly established in 2006 to hide his image rights, hiding some 4 million euros from tax authorities.

"The footballer pretended he had ceded his rights to two other companies in Hungary and Spain so as to fraudulently avoid paying taxes," the prosecutor told AFP.

With interest charges and fines the prosecutor insists Eto'o, now at Antalyaspor in Turkey, should pay 18 million euros.