Real Madrid coach Ancelotti to go on trial for alleged tax fraud

MADRID: Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti will go on trial next week for allegedly failing to declare income to Spain´s tax office, the Madrid court which will hear the case said Friday.

Prosecutors are seeking a jail term of four years and nine months for the 65-year-old Italian, accusing him of costing Spain´s treasury more than one million euros ($1.1 million) in undeclared earnings from image rights in 2014 and 2015.

The trial will begin on Wednesday and it is expected to last two days, a spokesman for the court said. Ancelotti, who as a coach has won a record five Champions League trophies including three with Real Madrid, must be present for the hearings, the spokesman added.

Ancelotti appeared fairly relaxed about the announcement when he appeared at his pre-match press conference on Friday. “This is not the place really to talk about it,” he said. “I have confidence in the legal and justice system, so I am not worried.

“Of course it upsets me a little they believe I have committed fraud, but I will go and testify hoping to convince them otherwise.” Prosecutors accuse him of only declaring in his tax returns the personal remuneration received from Real Madrid during those two years even though he declared himself to be a tax resident in Spain and indicated his home was in Madrid.

They accuse Ancelotti of allegedly setting up a “confusing” and “complex” system of shell companies to hide his extra earnings from his image rights as well as from other sources such as real estate.

He earned 1.24 million euros in 2014 from the sale of his image rights and 2.96 million euros in 2015, according to prosecutors. A Spanish court in 2023 ordered Ancelotti to stand trial over the affair, but did not set a date.

Ancelotti dismissed the affair last year as “an old story that I hope will be resolved soon” when he was asked about the case. He took over at Real Madrid in 2013, leaving in May 2015, before being appointed by Bayern Munich the following year.

The former Italy international midfielder, who as a player won the European Cup twice with AC Milan, later managed Napoli and Everton before returning to Real Madrid in 2021. Aside from his success in the Champions League he has won domestic league titles with Madrid and Milan, in England with Chelsea, in Germany with Bayern Munich and in France with Paris Saint-Germain.

Spain has cracked down in recent years on top football players who have not paid their due. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo were both found guilty of tax evasion and received prison sentences that were waived for being first-time offenders.

Former Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho received a one-year suspended sentence after reaching a guilty plea for tax fraud in 2019. Colombian superstar artist Shakira in 2023 agreed to receive a three-year suspended sentence and pay 7.3 million euros in fines to settle a tax fraud case and avoid trial.

Prosecutors had accused the “Hips Don´t Lie” singer of defrauding the Spanish state of 14.5 million euros on income earned between 2012 and 2014, charges Shakira had denied, saying she only moved to Spain full-time in 2015.