Skip to main content

“I help this country more than Hollande”- Ibrahimovic

Former Paris Saint-Germain striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic said on Tuesday that he did more for France than President Francois Hollande simply by paying the top rate of tax on his earnings.

“Ibra came and took power in France,” the Swede, who is preparing for Euro 2016 after winning won four league titles, three League Cups and two French Cups in four seasons at PSG, told Le Monde newspaper.

The former Ajax, Juventus, Milan and Barcelona striker said he earned more than 20 million euros ($22.7 million) in the first half of 2015 and claimed he paid 75 percent of it in tax.

“I help this country more than he (Hollande) does because I continue to pay it (the top rate),” Ibrahimovic said.

“I can tell you as I do my own tax returns.

“I pay my taxes and help this country. I could even make him popular (Hollande) — it’s just I’m not sure I want to,” he said of the deeply unpopular Socialist leader.

New polls last week showed Hollande only had a 14-percent approval rating after three months of sometimes violent demonstrations against the government’s controversial labour reforms.

Despite being among the most unpopular French post-war leaders, Hollande is considering whether to stand for a second term in next May’s presidential elections.

When asked if he was on the left or right of the political spectrum, Ibrahimovic said he didn’t like to talk politics because he didn’t know anything about it.

“I’m a man of the people, neither left nor right,” he said.

The 34-year-old, who has been linked with Manchester United, had hinted he might reveal his new club Tuesday.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Court grants Fani-Kayode N50m bail

Fani-kayode sandwiched by EFCC officials Justice James Tsoho of the Federal High Court Abuja on Thursday granted a N50m bail to former spokesman of the Goodluck Jonathan Campaign Organisation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode. Fani-Kayode was arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a five-count charge of money laundering to the tune of N26m. Fani-Kayode is the sole defendant in the fresh charges numbered, FHC/ABJ/CR/140/2016. The EFCC accused the defendant of diverting 26 million Naira allegedly received from the ONSA while Sambo Dasuki was in office. The anti-graft agency also accused him of handling the said N26 million without going through financial institution as required under the Money Laundering Act. The embattled former minister is already facing 17-count charge of money laundering before the Lagos Division of the court, along with a former Finance Minister; Nenadi Usman, Danjuma Yusuf and a firm; Joint Trust Dimension Nigeria Limited. They were charg...

Pope not involved in Colombian peace deal- Vatican

Pope Francis Pope Francis has turned down a request to play a role in the peace deal between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebel group. The Vatican in a statement issued on Wednesday in in Vatican City said that an invitation was sent to his Holiness in early August to appoint a representative to participate in the committee that selected the judges for the talks. The statement said that though Pope Francis supported the peace process, he, however, reiterated that he would not get involved in Colombian peace deal. It said that Pope was praying for the enlightenment of the hearts and minds of those who were called to promote the common good of the Colombian nation. A deal was announced last week, putting an end to five decades of internal conflict between government forces and the FARC rebels. The agreement, which needed to be ratified through a referendum in Oct. 2, would entail setting up a special court to grant amnesties or pu...

Man docked for defiling 9-year-old girl

magistrate-court A 33-year-old man, Godwin Otobo, was on Monday docked at a Surulere Chief Magistrates’ Court in Lagos.For allegedly defiling a nine-year-old girl, ‎Otobo, who lives at No. 10, Borrow Pit St., Sangotedo-Ajah area of Lagos, was said to have defiled the underage girl whose parents also reside in the same compound. The Prosecutor, Sgt. Anthonia Osayande, told the court that the accused committed the offence at about 9.00 p.m. sometimes in September. “The accused defiled the girl in the night when she was fetching water.‎ “The offence contravened Section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011,’’ Osayande told the court. The accused pleaded not guilty to the one-count charge of defilement. Ruling on a bail application filed by the accused, Chief Magistrate Ipaye Nwachukwu, granted him bail in the sum of N500,000 with two sureties in like sum. She said one of the sureties must be a property owner in Lagos State, while the other must be a civil servant on grade...