Spanish prosecutors urged on Wednesday for Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti to be imprisoned for four years and nine months for allegedly neglecting to register revenues to the tax office.
The Madrid public prosecutor’s office accused the 64-year-old Italian of depriving Spain’s coffers of more than one million euros in image rights earnings between 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,” according to a statement issued by the tax office.
It accused Ancelotti of allegedly establishing a “confusing” network of shell businesses to conceal his additional earnings from his image rights.
In July, a Spanish court ordered Ancelotti’s prosecution for the incident, but no date has been set.
Ancelotti took over Real Madrid in 2013, but left in May 2015 to join Bayern Munich the following year.
He then managed Napoli and Everton before returning to Real Madrid in 2021.
In December, he extended his contract with Real Madrid until June 2026.
Ancelotti is widely recognized as one of the best coaches of all time.
He has won the Champions League four times, two with AC Milan and two with Real Madrid.
He has won domestic league titles in Madrid and Milan, England with Chelsea, Germany with Bayern Munich, and France with Paris Saint-Germain.
Madrid will face RB Leipzig in the second leg of the Champions League last 16 on Wednesday, after Ancelotti’s team took a 1-0 lead in Germany.