Real Madrid coach Ancelotti faces five-year prison sentence

Spanish prosecutors on Wednesday called for Real Madrid coach, Carlo Ancelotti to be sentenced to prison for four years and nine months for allegedly failing to declare earnings to the tax office.

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Madrid state prosecutor’s office accused the coach of having deprived Spain’s treasury of over one million euros in earnings from image rights in 2014 and 2015.

“Although he himself declared himself to be a tax resident in Spain and indicated that his home was in Madrid, he only declared in his tax returns the personal remuneration received from Real Madrid,” the tax office said in a statement.

It accused Ancelotti of allegedly setting up a “confusing” system of shell companies to hide his extra earnings from his image rights.

A Spanish court in July ordered Ancelotti to stand trial over the affair but no date has been set.

Ancelotti took over at Real Madrid in 2013, leaving in May 2015, before being appointed at Bayern Munich the following year.

He later managed Napoli and Everton before returning to Real Madrid in 2021.

In December he extended his contract with Real Madrid to June 2026.

Ancelotti is regarded as one of the greatest coaches of all time.

He has won the Champions League four times — twice with AC Milan and also on two occasions with Real Madrid.

He has won domestic league titles with Madrid and Milan, in England with Chelsea, in Germany with Bayern Munich and in France with Paris Saint-Germain.

Madrid face RB Leipzig on Wednesday in a Champions League last 16 second leg clash, after Ancelotti’s side carved out a 1-0 advantage in Germany.

Vanguard/Jacinta A