Carlo Ancelotti faces Madrid court over tax evasion charges
Yasmine Green
Dailysports's expert
Translated by the editors
Real Madrid's head coach Carlo Ancelotti appeared in court as a trial commenced over allegations of tax evasion. The Italian arrived at the provincial court of Madrid on Wednesday morning, reports the Daily Mail.
Ancelotti is accused of deliberately providing false information to tax authorities to avoid paying over €1 million in income tax. This occurred during his first stint at the Spanish club, from 2014 to 2015.
“I was only concerned with collecting six million net for three years, and I never realized anything was wrong , and I never received any communication that the Prosecutor's Office was investigating me. When Real Madrid proposed this to me—referring to the transfer of image rights— I contacted my English advisor and never went into the matter because everything seemed correct to me. I didn't think it could be fraud, although if I'm here, I believe things weren't so correct," Ancelotti told Marca.
Ancelotti denies the charges, claiming he did not break the law in 2015 as he did not spend the required 183 days in Spain to be liable for tax. He also acknowledges underpaying taxes in 2014 but attributes this to errors by his accountants.
