March 7 – Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti has denied any wrongdoing after Spanish state prosecutors sensationally accused the decorated Italian of two counts of tax fraud and are seeking a prison sentence of four years and nine months.
Long regarded as one of the good guys of European football on and off the pitch, it is alleged Ancelotti set up a “confusing” and “complex” system of shell companies to hide parts of his income during his first stint at the club a decade ago.
That, prosecutors claim, defrauded the state of more than €1 million in 2014 and 2015 since Ancelotti only declared the income he received from Real Madrid while omitting his income from image rights.
“It’s an old story and it’s not affecting me,” Ancelotti insisted after Real drew 1-1 with RB Leipzig in the Champions League on Wednesday night, scraping through to the quarterfinals 2-1 on aggregate.
“I hope it can be solved soon and I don’t have any problems. I’m calm about it. The only problem I have is that team needs to perform better.”
Ancelotti earned €1.24 million in 2014 from the sale of his image rights and €2.96 million in 2015, according to prosecutors.
In July a Spanish court ordered the 64-year-old, who has won the Champions League four times – twice with AC Milan and twice with Real – to stand trial over the affair, but no date has been set.
A statement from Spain’s tax office read: “Although he himself declared himself to be a tax resident in Spain and indicated that his home was in Madrid, he only declared in his tax returns the personal remuneration received from Real Madrid.”
But Ancelotti refuted that version of events.
“The tax authority says that I was a resident at the time and I don’t think that I was a resident. I already paid the fine, the money is with them, and now the lawyers are talking to try to find a solution. I’m convinced that I’m innocent, that I was not a resident in 2015, and they think that I was a resident. Let’s see what the judge says.”
One of the most experienced managers in the European game, Ancelotti is far from the first famous sporting figure to be hauled in front of Spain’s tax authorities. Lionel Messi, Jose Mourinho and Cristiano Ronaldo have all been involved in high-profile cases over the years.
Messi and Ronaldo were both found guilty of tax evasion and received prison sentences that were waived for being first-time offenders.
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