Iker Casillas ‘absolutely calm’ as house raided by Portuguese authorities

Porto goalkeeper and Spanish FA presidential hopeful Iker Casillas insists he is ‘absolutely calm’ after his house was among multiple raids carried out by Portuguese authorities on Wednesday.

It is part of a wide-ranging investigation into alleged tax evasion and money laundering in the nation’s footballing circles since 2015, with a number of the nation’s top clubs – including Benfica, Porto and Sporting CP – among the 76 raids.

It is particularly poor timing for the goalkeeper, who will be the opponent of Luis Rubiales in the next elections for Spanish FA president.

Casillas is set to draw a close upon his illustrious playing career but remain in football, with a Cadena Ser report citing a survey showing fans displaying their support for the goalkeeper with 94% of the votes in a hypothetical candidacy.

“This morning, the Portuguese Prosecutors Office came to my home in Porto, as they did to 76 sporting societies, players and clubs, to ask me for documentation,” Casillas posted on Twitter on Wednesday.

“I have placed myself at their disposal. TRANSPARENCY is one of my principles.”

Casillas then posted a follow up statement which was drafted by his campaign team for his Spanish FA presidency, where he once again insisted he would cooperate fully with the investigation as he wanted ‘all corners’ of football to be transparent.

The statement stressed that Casillas was ‘absolutely calm’ with the investigations, of which he has ‘total trust’ in.

In May last year, the 38-year-old fell ill during training with Porto and was rushed to hospital where he underwent emergency surgery.

Whilst that was a success and Casillas was discharged five days later, it had appeared unlikely that he would return to first-team football but despite training this season, he has not played any first-team games.

Porto have already confirmed they want the Spaniard’s ‘long term’ future at the club and have already made him an offer to carry on after a theoretical retirement, although the details of that have not yet been disclosed.

Casillas is one of the most decorated players in Spain’s history, playing over 700 games for Madrid before joining Porto in 2015.

He won three Champions Leagues with the capital giants, as well as two European Championships and a World Cup in his 167 caps for La Roja.

Tags FC Porto Iker Casillas Porto
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