Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti appeared in court on Wednesday to face charges over unpaid taxes that could land him more than four years in prison.
Ancelotti has been accused of failing to include income from image rights in his tax returns during his first stint as Madrid boss, which lasted from 2013 to 2015. The Italian was initially charged in 2020 over €1 million due in taxes and a prison sentence of four years and nine months plus a fine of €3.2m was requested by the Spanish Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Just 12 hours after the end of his team’s win in the Copa del Rey semi-final against Real Sociedad, Ancelotti appeared in court in Madrid, where it was revealed that he has already repaid the €1.5m to the tax authorities.
Ancelotti argued in court that Madrid proposed he receive part of his salary as a loan to his image rights, but he believed that it would all go to the salary he had agreed on with the club – a total of €6m net.
Carlo Ancelotti (c) on his way out of testifying before the Provincial Court of Madrid, on 02 April, 2025 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo By Alejandro Martinez Velez/Europa Press via Getty Images)
“I have never thought of committing fraud. I have never had a company for image rights except for these two years,” he said, arguing that it was Madrid’s obligation to square things up with the tax authorities.
“I was only concerned with collecting the net €6m over three years, and I never realised anything was wrong, nor did I receive any notification that the Prosecutor’s Office was investigating me.”
Ancelotti’s case has not yet been resolved but the Italian coach will have to turn his attention to his team’s La Liga clash against Valencia on Thursday.
