Real Madrid Coach Ancelotti To Stand Trial Over Alleged Tax Fraud

Carlo Ancelotti, Real Madrid’s legendary coach, will stand trial next week for allegedly failing to declare over one million euros in image rights income to Spain’s tax authorities in 2014 and 2015.

Prosecutors are seeking a four-year and nine-month jail term for the 65-year-old Italian.

The trial is set to begin on Wednesday and will last two days, with Ancelotti required to attend.

Prosecutors allege that Ancelotti only declared his salary from Real Madrid in his tax returns for 2014 and 2015, despite being a tax resident in Spain with a declared home in Madrid.

They accuse him of using a “confusing” and “complex” network of shell companies to conceal income from image rights and other sources, including real estate.

In 2023, a Spanish court ruled that Ancelotti must stand trial over the case, but a date was not set at the time.

Ancelotti previously dismissed the tax case as “an old story that I hope will be resolved soon.” He first took charge of Real Madrid in 2013 before leaving in 2015 and later managing Bayern Munich, Napoli, and Everton. Returning to Madrid in 2021, he has won league titles in Spain, Italy, England, Germany, and France, along with a record five Champions League trophies as a coach.