Dutch prosecutor seeks 10-month term for Hiddink

AFP - 6 February 2007 21:19

The public prosecutor in the southern Dutch city of ´s-Hertogenbosch is reportedly seeking a 10-month prison term for Russia´s football coach Guus Hiddink, seen here 05 February 2007, for tax evasion.

THE HAGUE (AFP) - The public prosecutor in the southern Dutch city of ´s-Hertogenbosch is reportedly seeking a 10-month prison term for Russia´s football coach Guus Hiddink for tax evasion.

Hiddink is accused of having defrauded the tax department of almost 1.4 million euros in 2002 and 2003 when he returned from leading South Korea to the World Cup semi-finals.

According to the ANP news agency, prosecutors say Hiddink claimed he was paying his taxes in Belgium, but add that he only had a small flat there in which he never stayed, according to ANP.

Hiddink, who led Australia at last summer´s World Cup, has denied the allegations against him.

"I am completely honest. I will show there was no fraud and this is purely an administrative matter," he said last July when he was first summoned to appear before court.