Thursday, April 3, 2025 - Real Madrid manager, Carlo Ancelotti has been pictured in court in the Spanish capital for the opening of his trial on tax evasion charges.
Ancelotti, 65, arrived at the Provincial Court of
Madrid on Wednesday morning and was spotted sitting in the dock.
The Italian is accused of deliberately misinforming the tax
office during his first spell in charge of the Spanish giants between 2014 and
2015 to avoid paying more than €1m (£833,000) in income tax.
When asked about his income from the transfer of his image
rights to Real Madrid, Marca reports he said: '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 denies any wrongdoing and has vowed to fight the
charges. His appearance in court came just hours after Real Madrid's thrilling
aggregate victory over Real Sociedad in the Copa del Rey.
The Italian manager has previously admitted to underpaying tax in 2014 but blamed this on mistakes made by his accountants.
He insists he did not break any laws in 2015 as he did not
spend the 183 days in Spain needed to pay tax.
But prosecutors claim Ancelotti's main source of income
during this period was from Real as he did not take charge of Bayern Munich
until 2016.
According to Sport, prosecutors have called for
Ancelotti to be jailed for four years if he is found guilty of the charges
brought against him.
Ancelotti has previously addressed his case, stating he is 'convinced I'm
innocent'.
'This is an old story,' he told reporters. 'The Prosecutor's Office
believes I was a resident in 2015, and I believe I wasn't.
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