• Redknapp charged with two counts of cheating the public purse
• ‘I know I have done nothing wrong,’ says Tottenham manager
Harry Redknapp has insisted that the Crown Prosecution Service’s decision to charge him with tax evasion will have no bearing on his work at Tottenham Hotspur. Redknapp has been charged with two counts of cheating the public revenue, and voluntarily attended Bishopsgate police station in London yesterday to be charged by police after an exhaustive 26-month inquiry into alleged corruption in English football.
“This is not a football-related matter so I have no intention of letting it distract me at all from what I am doing and intend to do at the club,” Redknapp told the Daily Mail. “This all dates back to 2002, so it has been going on far too long. It is farcical.
“I have issued a statement. I know I have done nothing wrong, I’ve been saying it for a long time, but the matter is in the hands of solicitors so I have nothing more to say about this.”
Redknapp was accused of a £40,000 evasion by the Crown Prosecution Service. His lawyer Ian Burton, of BurtonCopeland, said: “The £40,000 figure is our estimate.”
Redknapp, who vehemently denies any wrongdoing, has previously dismissed the investigation as “not a major issue”. Tottenham have promised to stand by their manager and offer him their support.
The former Portsmouth chairman, Milan Mandaric, had the same charge levelled at him by the Crown Prosecution Service on Tuesday which he strenuously denied.
Harry RedknappTottenham HotspurPortsmouthPremier LeaguePaolo Bandiniguardian.co.uk
