Redknapp charged with £40,000 tax evasion

Tottenham Hotspur's wheeler-dealer manager Harry Redknapp has been charged with tax evasion. He faces two counts of cheating the public revenue to the tune of £40,000 while he was boss of Portsmouth.

Portsmouth's former chairman, businessman Milan Mandaric, has also been charged. It is alleged that Mandaric, who is now chairman of Leicester City, paid $295,000 into a Monaco bank account belonging to Redknapp over five-and-a-half years between 2002 and 2007 to avoid paying income tax and national insurance.

Both men will appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court next month.

The charges come after a two year investigation into alleged corruption in football. Officers looking into transfer deals at Portsmouth and Birmingham arrested Redknapp after a raid at his house in November 2007. Redknapp was furious and the following May he was awarded £1,000 in damages by the High Court after it ruled that the raid was unlawful.

Redknapp, who left Portsmouth to join Tottenham in 2008, has dismissed the investigation as "not a major issue" and has claimed he was being unfairly targeted. Spurs have said that Redknapp's position at the club is unaffected as the charges are not football related.

Several other high profile figures have also been investigated over the last two years. They include Birmingham City's former managing director Karren Brady and former co-owner David Sullivan. Portsmouth's chief executive Peter Storrie was also questioned over the transfer of player Amdy Faye to the south coast club in 2003. Storrie has since been charged with concealing a signing-on fee and is due to appear at Southwark Crown Court on 20 January

It all adds to Portsmouth's off-field problems. The tax authorities want to see the club wound up as they do not believe they will be able to afford to pay their outstanding bills.

However, the CPS will hope the charges are better prepared than their spokesman was when announcing the case against Redknapp. He referred to "Portsmouth City" FC, although the club's name is simply Portsmouth. ·