The president of the Cameroonian Football Federation Samuel Eto’o has pleaded guilty to tax evasion when he was playing for Barcelona FC.
Sport, is reporting that the former Barcelona and Inter Milan striker told the Spanish court that he was a victim of manipulation by his former agent Jose Maria Mesalles.
The 41-year-old four-time African footballer of the year escaped jail for evading taxes of 3 872 621 euros between 2006 and 2009 because of a clean record before his conviction.
Eto’o was, however, slapped with a 22-month suspended prison sentence when he appeared at court in Spain on Monday.
Eto’o was one of the most gifted strikers of his generation. He played for Barcelona between 2004 and 2009, scoring 130 goals in 199 games for the Catalan club.
The Cameroon international won the Champions League twice and La Liga three times with Barcelona before leaving for Inter Milan in 2009.