By Victor Kanayo
Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti is currently facing tough times in Spain following a trial over alleged tax evasion.
On Wednesday, the veteran manager told a Spanish court he had believed his tax affairs were legal as he testified in a trial.
Specifically, he is accused of failing to pay 1 million euros (€1.08 million) in tax on image rights revenue.
Taking the stand on the first day of the trial, the Italian said that when joining the Spanish team, he had been offered a net salary of 6 million euros and had left it up to the club and his British adviser to determine how that was structured.
He is the latest of several football celebrities to be investigated by the Spanish tax authority for alleged tax fraud.
Ancelotti’s wife, Mariann, son Davide, and stepdaughter Chloe also testified on Wednesday.
The prosecutor is seeking a prison term of four years and nine months for Ancelotti and a fine of 3.2 million euros for two counts of tax evasion in 2014 and 2015.
It argues that he had only reported the salary he was paid by Real Madrid and had omitted income from his image rights in his tax returns.
Ancelotti said that image rights were not significant for coaches in the way they are for players.
Before the hearing, the prosecutor said Spain’s tax authority had seized the debt plus interest from Ancelotti.
Ancelotti, a former player who was capped 26 times for Italy and played in the 1990 World Cup, returned to Real Madrid for a second stint as coach in 2021.
While some leading players, such as Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Spain’s Diego Costa, have settled out of court with large fines, others, such as Bayer Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso, decided to defend their innocence in court, with the Supreme Court upholding his acquittal in 2023.
