Prosecutors allege Ancelotti tax fraud, seek prison sentence

Spanish prosecutors have requested a four-year, nine-month prison sentence for Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti for allegedly defrauding the country's tax authorities.

In a statement released Wednesday, Madrid's regional prosecutor accused Ancelotti, 64, of two counts of tax fraud from 2014 to 2015 relating to his income from image rights which amounted to more than a million euros ($1.09 million).

ESPN contacted Ancelotti's representatives, who declined to comment.

The press release indicates that in his income tax declaration, the Italian coach “omitted the income corresponding to the exploitation of his image rights which he had transferred to other entities”.

“The Spanish Treasury calculated the loss suffered taking into account the rents and income omitted and the reimbursements obtained at 1,062,079 euros (386,361 euros for the 2014 financial year and 675,718 euros for the 2015 financial year),” added the prosecutor .

Ancelotti joined Real Madrid in the summer of 2013 before being fired in May 2015.

The former Chelsea and AC Milan manager returned to the helm of the Spanish giants in June 2021. He recently signed a new contract with The Whites until June 2026.

Many players and coaches have been the subject of investigations by Spanish tax authorities over the past decade, often involving income from image rights.

In 2016, Lionel Messi was convicted of tax fraud and fined to avoid a 21-month prison sentence.

Cristiano Ronaldo pleaded guilty to fraud in 2019 and agreed to pay a fine of 19 million euros.

The same year, Xabi Alonso was acquitted of fraud – in a verdict ratified by the Spanish Supreme Court in 2021 – after the court found that he had not sought to hide his income by transferring his rights to the image to a foreign company.

Reporting from ESPN's Alex Kirkland contributed to this report.