Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti arrived at a Spanish court on Wednesday, for the opening of his trial on tax evasion charges, Afrosport reports.
Spanish prosecutors have accused the Italian tactician of defrauding the state of €1 million in 2014 and 2015 and are seeking a prison sentence of up to four years and nine months on two counts of tax fraud.
They also accused Ancelotti in March 2024 of using shell companies to hide his true earnings.
He allegedly paid tax on his Real Madrid salary only while omitting income from image rights on his tax returns.
“For me, everything was in order,” Ancelotti told the Provincial Court of Madrid.
“I thought it was quite normal because at that time all the players and the previous coach had [done the same].”
The 65-year-old is the latest high football figure to be charged with tax evasion in Spain after Lionel Messi in 2017 and Cristiano Ronaldo in 2019 while on the books of Barcelona and Real Madrid respectively.
