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Robert Lewandowski
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Alexander Hassenstein / Bongarts / Getty Images
Who does the millions in revenues from advertising with Robert Lewandowski belong to?
The FC Bayern Munich striker and his former advisor Cesary Kucharski are arguing about it in court.
Both had a joint marketing company in Warsaw, where Kucharski is now suing for damages of around nine million euros.
The accusation: Robert Lewandowski and his wife Anna are alleged to have illegally diverted money from this company.
The basis of this company, in which Lewandowski held 98 percent and Kucharski two percent, is a so-called image rights contract.
With this agreement, Lewandowski transferred his advertising rights to Kucharski until 2030 - for only around 14,000 euros.
The contract is dated 2008.
When asked by SPIEGEL why Lewandowski had sold his entire and extremely valuable advertising income to his advisor for such a ridiculously small amount well beyond the end of his career, Lewandowski's spokeswoman initially replied that the striker was only 19 at the time and his former advisor Kucharski "took advantage of his ignorance and lack of experience in such matters".
Last week, SPIEGEL received additional documents that indicate that the advertising rights contract may not have been created in 2008, but was only drawn up in 2014.
When asked whether the contract was backdated, Lewandowski had SPIEGEL informed that he did not want to comment on the content at the current time.
However, he declared his "full willingness to cooperate with the control authorities" and stated that he would present them with "all available documents and make comprehensive statements".
Kucharski didn't answer any of SPIEGEL's questions either.
The renowned Hamburg specialist lawyer for commercial and corporate law, Rafael Villena y Scheffler, has already advised numerous top earners on tax issues.
Here he explains what fatal consequences a backdated contract could have for Lewandowski and how high the resulting tax evasion would be.
SPIEGEL:
Mr. Villena, how do you rate the Robert Lewandowski case?
Villena y Scheffler:
I consider this case to be serious and would classify it in the same category of tax evasion as the cases of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi - if the suspicion that was read in SPIEGEL is confirmed.
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