Why Haaland is under fire in Norway ahead of Ballon d'Or
Robin Bairner
- 30 Oct 2023 11:01 GMT
- 3 min read
Erling Haaland faces criticism in Norway ahead of Monday’s Ballon d'Or ceremony in Paris.
The striker, who has spent the last 18 months in prolific form since moving to Manchester City from Borussia Dortmund, is under fire because of his financial affairs.
According to Dagbladet, Haaland is one of a number of star footballers who have established companies in tax havens, with father Alfie and adviser Egil Ostenstad also having created companies in Luxembourg.
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Now the striker has been criticised for the action by Petter Gottschalk, professor emeritus at BI School of Economics and researcher on financial crime.
“If he is not really interested in enriching himself at the expense of the community by avoiding taxation of sky-high income, instead of using foreign advisers, he should entrust the task to skilled people within Wealth Management in, for example, Nordea or DNB,” he said.
“Haaland is of course free to choose the bank he wants.
“There are two important words in this context, greed and trust. It's all about avoiding tax on a very rapidly growing fortune.”
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Economics professor Maximilian Todtenhaupt believes that Haaland’s actions leave him open to suspicion, even if his actions are perfectly legitimate.
“I have no reason to believe that Haaland has done anything punishable. But Haaland and his advisers should have ensured that they could not be linked to potential tax evasion,” he explained.
The risk of association with tax evasion is high
- Maximilian Todtenhaupt“Being involved in a company in a tax haven is an example of such a link.
“In purely formal terms, they do not need to do anything, as long as they are absolutely sure that all services offered to them are legitimate. But the risk of association with tax evasion is high, and if they want to make sure to avoid this, the only way will be to invest the money in another way.”
Haaland’s on-field form remains excellent, with the Man City striker scoring twice as Pep Guardiola’s beat Manchester United 3-0 in the Premier League on Sunday.
He is considered one of the favourites to win the Ballon d’Or, which will be presented in Paris on Monday, with Lionel Messi the standout favourite.
