Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo and Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho hid millions in earnings from the tax man in overseas tax havens, an international consortium of journalists has claimed. 

Journalists have based the claims on documents contained in a two terabyte document leak containing several original contracts which is being dubbed 'Football Leaks'. 

'The Special One': Jose Mourinho. Photo: Reuters

The European Investigative Collaborations (EIC) consortium, which includes Britain's Sunday Times, Portugal's Expresso and Spain's El Mundo, intends to release details of its findings over the next three weeks.

According to one of the newspapers involved in the consortium, Ronaldo moved €63.5 million to the British Virgin Islands in 2014, just 11 days before Spain tightened its tax laws. Mourinho is alleged to have moved €12 million.

The company which represents both Ronaldo and Mourinho has stridently denied the claims.  

"Both Cristiano Ronaldo and Jose Mourinho are fully compliant with their tax obligations with the Spanish and British tax authorities," Gestifute said in a statement.

"Any insinuation or accusation made to Cristiano Ronaldo or Jose Mourinho over the commission of a tax offence will be reported to the legal authorities and prosecuted."

Spanish prosecutors did not respond to requests for comment; nor did Real Madrid, Ronaldo's present and Mourinho's former club. Mourinho's new employer, Manchester United, said the allegations predated his arrival there and that it would have no comment.

One of the publications, the French investigative portal Mediapart, said Ronaldo and his Portuguese compatriot Mourinho had benefited from a tax optimisation system developed by their agent Jorge Mendes, who owns Gestifute.

Mediapart said the system Gestifute employed for its various clients, using a network of offshore accounts and companies, represented a total potential loss to tax authorities of at least 185 million euros.

In its statement, Gestifute said that "neither Cristiano Ronaldo nor Jose Mourinho have ever been involved in legal proceedings regarding the commission of a tax offense".