Cristiano Ronaldo has paid £12.1 million to Spanish tax authorities in an effort to settle a dispute over tax fraud.

The 33-year-old has also accepted a two-year suspended prison sentence and will pay a further £4.7 million in fines and costs, according to Spanish radio station Cadena Cope. However, it is a sentence he will never have to serve, as for administrative crimes in Spain, a first sentence with a term of two years or less is not custodial.

Ronaldo is among several football stars who plied their trade in La Liga to be taken to court over Spanish tax disputes.

The tax dispute is suspected to be a contributing factor in the Portuguese star’s decision to leave Real Madrid for Juventus this summer.

Ronaldo was said to be upset by the case itself, as well as a perceived lack of support from Madrid hierarchy in his battle with the tax authorities. The same reason was given for his desire to leave last summer, though he was ultimately convinced to stay for a year.

His anger at the authorities was well-documented, as he was irate at being treated like a ‘criminal’ over what he felt was a misunderstanding due to Spain’s complex laws surrounding image rights.

It was claimed that he wilfully defrauded the Spanish government by not declaring earnings on image rights from 2011 to 2014, but Ronaldo always insisted he was innocent.

He voluntarily paid an extra £5 million in taxes in 2014 in a vain attempt to set the record straight.

Ronaldo’s decision to pay the fine is being interpreted as a means of the player cutting all ties with Spain. He is reportedly set to pull his business interests out of Madrid as well, and the player has also reportedly put his £4.8 million mansion in one of the capital’s most premium neighbourhoods up for sale.

He is also set to give up on a planned hotel project in Madrid’s famous ‘Gran Via’ street, despite having only gotten a license to convert a historic building into a 160-room luxury hotel earlier this year.