Criminal charges against Ajax dropped

Amsterdam:

Prosecutors have dropped criminal charges against Ajax, in an eight-year old tax evasion case involving two former players. As part of a settlement, the 29-time Dutch league champion have agreed to pay a $590,000 fine. However, tax officials are continuing to pursue $6.2 million in back taxes over the transfer of Shota Arveladze and Michael Laudrup to Ajax in 1997. A Dutch tax court is yet to rule on the case. "Ajax should have realized that part of the transfer sum was player wages, over which income tax should have been paid," the prosecutors' statement said. Arveladze has since joined AZ Alkmaar, while Laudrup, who retired in 2002, coaches Danish club Brondby. (AP)

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