Hiddink evades prison

Former Socceroos coach Guus Hiddink has been convicted of tax evasion, but will not serve any time behind bars.

Hiddink, who guided Australia to their first World Cup in 32 years in 2006, was fined 45,000 euros ($A74,930) and given a six-month suspended prison sentence by a Dutch court.

Prosecutors had sought a 10-month prison sentence, but judges at a court in the central city of Den Bosch said there were mitigating factors, including damage already done to Hiddink's reputation by publicity surrounding the case.

According to prosecutors, Hiddink evaded paying 1.4 million euro ($A2.33 million) in Dutch taxes by claiming a tax home in Belgium when he was actually living in Eindhoven in 2002-2003.

Judges cleared Hiddink of wrongdoing in 2002 but convicted him of a false tax filing from January to August 2003.

"Mr Hiddink said he was very happy with the acquittal for 2002, not happy at all about the suspended sentence for 2003," Hiddink's lawyer, Jan Leliveld, told reporters outside the court.

He said he would consider an appeal after studying the ruling.

Prosecutor Ria Huisman said she was "in principle satisfied" with the verdict but would also study the judgment before deciding whether to appeal.

Hiddink had argued that he owned a home in Belgium and had intended to live there when he returned from coaching South Korea to a surprise World Cup semi-final spot in 2002.

He only later realised he would be living in the Netherlands, while he coached at PSV Eindhoven, close to the Belgian border.

"Judges thought that was credible," court spokeswoman Lieneke de Klerk said.

The court said it was "highly regrettable" that Hiddink did not declare that he lived in the Netherlands in his 2003 tax filing.

However, the court took into account Hiddink's clean criminal record and the fact that he "has been exposed to a high degree of defamatory reporting" linked to the case.

The Dutchman was not in court to hear the verdict.

The fine was the maximum the court could have imposed, Dutch media reported.

Hiddink's case came to the attention of Dutch tax fraud inspectors after telephone conversations with a former PSV director were monitored by wire taps in a criminal investigation into the PSV director some years ago.

During the trial Hiddink admitted that he never spent a night in his house in Belgium but also denied that he lived with his girlfriend in Amsterdam.

He said he had instead slept in a number of different places - in hotels, at his girlfriend's home, at the training ground of PSV Eindhoven, whom he was also coaching at the time, and sometimes even behind the wheel of his car.

Hiddink coached South Korea to a surprise semi-final spot at the 2002 World Cup before moving to PSV Eindhoven later that year.

He coached the Socceroos to the last 16 at the 2006 World Cup before taking up his current post in Russia.

Hiddink's Russia team is second in Euro 2008 qualifying Group E, with eight points from four matches. Croatia leads the group with 10 points from its four matches.

Russia's next Euro 2008 match is March 24 at Estonia.

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