Tax evasion trial for Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti opens in Spain

Carlo Ancelotti

Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti arrived at a Spanish court yesterday for the opening of his trial on tax evasion charges.

Spanish prosecutors have accused the highly successful Italian coach of defrauding the state of 1 million euros ($1 million) in 2014 and 2015. State prosecutors are seeking a prison sentence of up to four years and nine months on two counts of tax fraud.

They accused Ancelotti in March 2024 of having used shell companies to hide his true earnings. Prosecutors claimed Ancelotti, for example, used one company that lacked “any real (economic) activity” in the Virgin Islands as part of an alleged scheme.

Ancelotti had denied any wrongdoing before the trial.

He arrived to the Madrid-based courthouse dressed in one of his dark blue suits that he wears while coaching games.

When asked by television journalists if he trusted in the justice system, he responded “I do” as he walked up the courthouse steps.

Ancelotti proclaimed his innocence when first accused last year, arguing he was not a fiscal resident of Spain during part of that time. Prosecutors disagree.

“I already paid the fine, the money is with them, and now the lawyers are talking to try to find a solution,” Ancelotti said in March 2024. “Let’s see what the judge says.”

The 65-year-old Ancelotti is one of soccer’s most successful coaches. He has won the Champions League a record five times, three with Madrid and twice with AC Milan, and is the only coach to have won domestic league titles in England, Spain, Italy, Germany and France.

He coached Madrid from 2013-15 before starting his current stint in 2021.

Soccer stars in tax trouble

Ancelotti is the latest in a string of major soccer profiles to face a crackdown by Spanish authorities over unpaid taxes, although none have actually been sent to prison so far.

Former Madrid coach Jose Mourinho received a one-year suspended sentence after reaching a guilty plea for tax fraud in 2019. Star players Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo — among others — have also been found guilty of tax fraud in Spain. Similar to Ancelotti, Mourinho, Ronaldo and Messi were also accused of using shell companies outside Spain to hide revenue from image rights.

Ronaldo agreed to pay a fine of nearly 19 million euros (then $21.6 million) in 2019, and was handed a two-year suspended sentence that he didn’t have to serve.

Messi and his father were found guilty of defrauding tax authorities of 4.1 million euros (then $4.6 million) but also avoided a jail sentence by paying hefty fines.

In Spain a judge can suspend a sentence of less than two years for first-time offenders.

Many of those accused of fraud reached deals with the tax authorities and accepted guilt to reduce their sentences. MDT/AP