The Madrid region prosecutor’s office has decided to seek four years and nine months in prison against Real Madrid’s Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti, who is due to be tried soon in Spain in a tax fraud case. In a long press release, the prosecutor’s office accuses the coach of the Merengue club of having defrauded the Spanish public treasury of more than one million euros over the years 2014 and 2015, by failing to declare his income from his football rights. ‘picture.
In Spain, the prosecution makes its requests known before the opening of the trial. According to a court document dating from 2023 consulted by AFP, Carlo Ancelotti admitted the facts during the investigation. This admission of guilt could pave the way for an amicable agreement with the prosecution which will allow him to avoid prison. The announcement from the court comes a few hours before Real Madrid faces RB Leipzig in its home Santiago Bernabéu in the round of 16 second leg of the Champions League. The Madrid side, who have already won Europe’s main club competition 14 times, won the first leg in Germany 1-0.
After three years of investigation, a court in the regional community of Madrid announced in the summer of 2023 the referral to criminal justice of Carlo Ancelotti. The prosecution told AFP on Wednesday that the date of the trial was not yet known. According to the tax administration, the Italian coach declared to the tax authorities his income as Real coach in 2014 and 2015, but not those from image rights or other sources of income, notably real estate.
“Although he himself declared that he was a tax resident in Spain and indicated that his domicile was in Madrid, he only indicated in his tax declarations the personal remuneration received from Real Madrid,” claims the communicated. The public prosecutor specifies in this text that the income that the Italian coach earned from the transfer of his image rights amounted to 1.24 million euros in 2014 and 2.96 million euros in 2015.
“Frame companies”
According to the public prosecutor, Carlo Ancelotti’s omission in his tax declarations was voluntary, the Italian coach having resorted to “a ‘complex’ and ‘confusing’ network of trusts and shell companies to channel the collection of duties To the picture”. He thus “‘simulated’ the transfer of his image rights to entities ‘devoid of real activity'” domiciled outside Spain, with the aim of maintaining “opacity vis-à-vis the Treasury Spanish public”, adds the press release, which cites the terms used by the prosecution in its requisitions. According to the public prosecutor, Carlo Ancelotti concluded in July 2013, “parallel” to his signing of a contract as coach of Real Madrid, another private contract with the Merengue club in which he gave the club 50% of his image rights.
According to the terms of this contract, the remaining 50% was held by an “anonymous” and “undetermined” company, “which acted in the name and on behalf of the Italian coach”, specifies the prosecution. “This company turned out to be Vapia LLP”, a company domiciled in London, which was communicated to Real Madrid a year later, details the prosecution. Carlo Ancelotti, 64, coached Real between 2013 and 2015 before returning to the Madrid bench in 2021 for three years.
According to persistent rumors, he was then to become Brazil coach at the end of his contract in June 2024, but ultimately extended his lease with the Madrid club until June 2026, while acknowledging having had advanced contacts with the Brazilian Confederation (CBF) to take charge of the Seleçao. The man nicknamed “Mister” has won numerous titles in the prestigious clubs he has coached (AC Milan, Chelsea, Bayern Munich…), winning four C1s and the champion title in the five biggest European championships. . On the other hand, he left a more mixed memory in other clubs, such as Juventus Turin or PSG, which he coached from 2011 to 2013.