Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti was tried accused of € 1 million tax fraud | Carlo Ancelotti

Real Madrid coach, Carlo AncelottiHe will appear in court on Wednesday to be tried on charges of fraying the tax office of Spain of over 1 million euros (£ 836,857) in earnings not declared by image rights in 2014 and 2015.

Public ministries, who are looking for a prison sentence of four years and nine months, say that the ex 65 year old Chelsea and Everton Manager used Shell’s companies outside Spain to create “opacity with the Spanish treasure … hiding the real beneficiary of income from the exploitation of his image rights”.

They argue that, despite his status as a Spanish resident for tax purposes, the coach declared only his personal earnings from the club and has omitted the revenue he received from the sale of his image rights. Public ministries claim not to have paid a total of € 1,062,079 taxes on the sale of these rights, which amounted to 1.24 million euros in 2014 and 2.96 million euros the following year. The process should last two days.

Ancelotti, the most successful manager in the history of the Champions League, denied the accusations and insisted on the fact that he is eager to have his day in court. “I have total trust in the law and justice,” he told journalists last Friday. “I am not worried but obviously I’m annoyed if they say that I have committed a fraud, but, once again, I have total confidence in justice. I really can’t wait to testify on Wednesday.”

Ancelotti is not the only high -profile football figure found himself pursued by the tax authorities of Spain in recent years. In July 2016, Lionel Messi and his father, Jorge, were sentenced to 21 months in prison To evade the taxes on the image rights of Lionel during its period in Barcelona, ​​with over 4 million euros due in rear payments. Both were spared time in prison because the sentences of less than two years in Spain should not be served, and neither of the two men had a judicial box.

Six years ago Cristiano Ronaldo admitted that he had committed a tax fraud While playing for Real Madrid and agreed to pay a fine of 18.8 million euros (£ 16.5 million) after having tightened an agreement with ministries and tax authorities in exchange for a prison sentence of 23 months. In February 2019 José Mourinho was given a detention penalty suspended of one year And he agreed to pay € 2.2 million (£ 1.9 million) of fines after admitting tax fraud while he was the director of Real Madrid.

The following year, the Atlético Madrid forward Diego Costa paid a fine of € 543,208 After declaring himself guilty of framing the tax authorities of over 1 million euros not by declaring payments of over 5.15 million euros from his 2014 move to Chelsea.

The Colombian Shakira singer and philanthropist was also the subject of long tax procedures in Spain who made global news e culminated in his achievement of a settlement With public ministries to avoid the trial for the accusation of not having paid 14.5 million euros (£ 12.7 million) in Spanish income tax between 2012 and 2014. In the agreement hit in November 2023, he accepted the expenses and a fine of 50% of the amount due amount, which was greater than 7.3 million euros. He also accepted a further fine of € 438,000 to avoid a prison sentence of three years.

In July 2019, the then partner of Shakira, in Gerard Piqué, was ordered to pay 2.1 million euros in arrears and tax fines for tax evasion relating to the payments of image rights when the central defender was playing for Barcelona. The fine was canceled two years later by the Supreme Court of Spain.