Rossi will pay 20 million euros in back taxes

Valentino Rossi

Seven-time motorcycle world champion Valentino Rossi will pay the Italian government 20 million euros in back taxes. Rossi, considered an international sports legend, was supposed to pay over 112 million euros to tax authorities on undeclared earnings of 60 million euros accrued from 2000 to 2004.

But Rossi's tax consultants managed to reduce that figure to 20 million euros.

The 28-year-old sports champion has been at the centre of a national controversy since the full extent of his unpaid taxes were revealed in August 2007. He has asked Italian tax officials if he can pay off his debt in stages.

"I think it is finally over. Valentino will once again smile, win and take things as they come…he is not a tax evader and the proof is his decision to pay," said Rossi's lawyer Lucio Monaco in an interview with the news website, Quotidiano.net.

"He did not want a war, only a fair accord."

Valentino Rossi is one of the world's highest paid sportsmen, reportedly earning over 37 million euros a year from his contract with the Japanese vehicle producer, Yamaha, plus more from numerous merchandising and sponsorship deals.