The Real Madrid coach, Carlo Ancelotti, will appear in court on Wednesday to stand trial on charges of defrauding Spain’s tax office of more than €1 million (£836,857) in undeclared earnings from image rights in 2014 and 2015, Report informs via The Guardian.
Prosecutors, who are seeking a jail term of four years and nine months, allege that the 65-year-old former Chelsea and Everton manager used shell companies outside Spain to create “opacity vis-a-vis the Spanish treasury … concealing the real beneficiary of the income from the exploitation of his image rights”.
They claim that, despite his status as a Spanish resident for tax purposes, the coach declared only his personal earnings from the club and omitted the income he received from the sale of his image rights. The prosecutors allege that he failed to pay a total of €1,062,079 in tax on the sale of those rights, which amounted to €1.24 million in 2014 and €2.96 million the following year. The trial, which will be held in Madrid, is expected to last two days.
Ancelotti, the most successful manager in Champions League history, has denied the charges and insisted he is keen to have his day in court. “I have total confidence in the law and in justice,” he told reporters last Friday. “I’m not worried but I am obviously annoyed if they say that I’ve committed fraud, but, once again, I have total confidence in justice. I’m really looking forward to testifying on Wednesday.”