Former England star Trevor Sinclair facing bankruptcy battle over £36k unpaid tax bill after ‘hiding head in the sand’
FORMER England star Trevor Sinclair is facing a court bid to make him bankrupt over a £36,000 tax debt.
Ex-Queens Park Ranger and Manchester City winger Sinclair, 52, earned a fortune during his playing career and went on to become a TV and radio pundit.
But his career stalled in 2022 when he asked why “black and brown people” should mourn the Queen.
And HMRC chiefs are now threatening to make him bankrupt unless he settles an unpaid tax bill for punditry work in 2021-22.
Since retirement, the former wideman has worked as a pundit for media outlets including Talksport and the BBC on Football Focus and Final Score.
But Central London County Court heard that he got into trouble with his finances and “hid his head in the sand” over money he owed to the taxman after his accountant died.
Shabab Rizvi, for HMRC, told Judge Caroline Wilkinson that the ex-player has ignored demands for payment.
Ms Rizvi told the court: “HMRC’s position today is that we are seeking a bankruptcy order,” she told the judge.
“Since the breathing space order ended, we have had no contact from the debtor, she told the judge.
“The debtor is a former Premier League footballer and should have the means to satisfy the debt, but there’s been no contact with HMRC at all.”
Robert Lee, for Mr Sinclair, however asked the judge to put off making the bankruptcy order and give him another chance to get the money together and pay up.
He told the judge: “Mr Sinclair is seeking an adjournment. He is a former Premier League footballer and he was working in the media.
“Mr Sinclair is currently in receipt of a job offer in Saudi Arabia.”
As a footballer Sinclair starred as a winger for QPR, West Ham United and Manchester City in the Premier League in the 1990s and 2000s.
He won the 1997 Match of the Day‘s “Goal of the Season” with a spectacular overhead bicycle kick in an FA Cup tie against Barnsley.
He won 12 caps for England, four in the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea, before retiring in 2008 following a stint at Cardiff City.
District Judge Caroline Wilkinson explained that the debt is for the tax year 2021-22, consisting of two “large sums of £13,000-odd” each, plus outstanding National Insurance and penalties.
She said: “Mr Sinclair has to wake up to the fact that there’s no more head in the sand because this is serious.”
The case was adjourned for two months to allow the former Prem ace time to try to get the money together to pay his debt.