If you walk past Ulysses House on Foley Street in Dublin 1, near the heart of what was once Monto, you'll pass - though you'd never know it - a company that has apparently emerged as a major player in the business of European football. On the third floor, you'll find the offices of Multimedia Sports and Image Management (MIM), a little-known business in Ireland that this week has been linked to some of the biggest personalities in world football. MIM was discussed by European parliamentarians this week after a Spanish newspaper claimed Cristiano Ronaldo was working with the Irish company to avoid paying tax in Spain and now today, the Dublin paper features heavily in the Sunday Times, as its Insight team lifts the lid on Jose Mourinho's alleged multi-million euro offshore tax dealings.
According to the Sunday Times, Mourinho had by 2014 built up a kitty of €12 million of earnings in a Swiss bank account that had never been taxed from the sale of his image rights. They claim MIM had represented Mourinho in the selling of his image rights with both clubs and sponsors. The Insight claims are the latest news to surface from the anonymous Portuguese 'Football Leaks' whistleblower, who has released 17 million secret documents to Der Spiegel and others detailing the internal financial dealings of many of the biggest names in world football.
What is MIM?
According to newspaper reports, MIM was founded in 2004 and its CRO papers show it was incorporated on 29 September 2005, as Mourinho was beginning his second season at Chelsea. MIM describes itself in its incorporation papers as an image rights business. Today's the Sunday Times Insight team explain some of the work that MIM did with Mourinho, and the complicated tax avoidance system that Mourinho allegedly utilised in relation to his image rights.
According to the Sunday Times:
When Mourinho was about to join Chelsea for the first time, a financial structure was prepared for his image rights... It involved two companies: MIM in Dublin and Koper Serivces SA in the British Virgin Islands. Mourinho signed away his image rights to Koper, which in turn assigned them to Mim.
MIM is described by the paper as a 'cut-out'. According to the the Sunday Times, when the likes of Chelsea paid Mourinho for the use of his images, the money would go to Mim before being 'wired' to Koper without the knowledge of the club. The Sunday Times report that Mourinho paid no tax on the nearly €2 million he made on his image rights during his first spell at Chelsea and would have to pay back roughly €300,000 to the HMRC in 2010. The paper also claims MIM represented Mourinho's image rights when he moved to Inter Milan and Real Madrid.
But Mourinho isn't the only football personality to employ MIM's services. This week, as was widely reported in the Irish media, Spanish newspaper El Confidencial claimed that MIM also works on behalf of Cristiano Ronaldo, having acted on his behalf on deals with Nike, Unilever, KFC and others. By employing MIM's services instead of a Spanish-based company, Ronaldo could avoid paying the maximum 43.5% Spanish tax rate, and instead avail of Ireland's far more generous 12.5% corporate tax rate. El Confidencial's claims has been strenuously denied by Jorge Mendes, Ronaldo's agent, who have said they are considering legal action against the paper.
Both Mourinho and Ronaldo are represented by Mendes.
It is clear that Ronaldo has worked with MIM to some extent, however. Under the trademarks section of the terms and conditions of Ronaldo's official cologne and deodorant website www.cristianoronaldofragrances.com, the following text appears: "Cristiano Ronaldo, Cristiano Ronaldo Legacy are trade marks owned by Multisports & Image Management Limited and licensed to Eden Parfums Limited."
This week, German Green Party MEP Sven Giegold commented on the El Confidencial story, saying “it comes as no surprise that the company is located in Ireland given the country’s low corporate tax rate” and called for a minimum European tax rate. Spanish MEP Ernest Urtasun told Spanish media outlets he would be raising Ronaldo's tax affairs with the European Parliament and was also highly critical of Ireland's corporate tax rate.
MIM's website remains skeletal and features a 'copyright 2005' logo. In the About Us section, their mission statement states that "they take pleasure in saying that we have a priceless relationship with all our clients. MIM makes a clear distinction from the usual image management agencies. Our aim is to build personal and long-term relationships with each and every one of our clients."
Its incorporation documents state that the company was founded by Andy Quinn, who according to MIM's annual returns filed in 2010 was at the time director of 26 companies, and Liam Grainger, who according to MIM's annual returns filed in 2010, was at the time director of 174 companies. No one from MIM has responded to requests from this website and others for comment this week.
