Carlo Ancelotti, accused of tax fraud, before the judge: "It was Madrid who suggested that formula to me."

BarcelonaCarlo Ancelotti, accused of tax fraud, testified before the judge of the Provincial Court of Madrid less than 10 hours after qualifying his coach, Real Madrid, for the Copa del Rey final. In his statement, Ancelotti explained that Real Madrid suggested a formula for collecting image rights that he considered "correct," one that footballers used, and that entailed tax advantages for Real Madrid. "I contacted my tax advisor. I didn't think it could be fraud," he stated.

The Spanish Prosecutor's Office is seeking a sentence of four years and nine months in prison and a fine of €3.1 million for the Real Madrid manager for tax fraud exceeding one million euros, the same amount the Treasury seized from his Real Madrid salary. "I've never given importance to image rights. Coaches aren't that important, the players are because they sell shirts. The only thing that mattered to me was getting paid six million euros net. I wanted six million net, and at the end of the season I had six million net," Ancelotti said in response to the rights' questions about the History of the 's'.

In this regard, Ancelotti revealed that he signed a federation contract in July 2013, when he arrived at Madrid, in which it was agreed that 15% of his salary would be paid for image rights and in which a company to which these rights would be transferred was mentioned. He also indicated that it was not until 2018 that he became aware of the facts for which he is being tried because until then the Prosecutor's Office had not informed him of any alleged tax fraud.

The Prosecutor's Office's statement

The court document, to which this newspaper has had access, refers to his first stint as coach at Real Madrid (2013-2015). The prosecution accuses Ancelotti of failing to declare €386,361 in 2014 and a further €675,718 in 2015 in relation to image rights, using "a complex and confusing network of trusts and interposed companies."

The document continues: "[Ancelotti] simulated the transfer of his image rights to entities with no real activity and no capacity for exploitation, which were domiciled outside of Spain. He thus sought to conceal the Spanish public treasury and conceal the true beneficiary of the rights, owing to the large sums received, whether in Spain or outside of Spain."

The state body maintains that "from July 2013, the accused began working and living in Spain, establishing his domicile and habitual residence in Madrid, although he ended his professional relationship with the club early on May 25, 2015." Therefore, the Prosecutor's Office considers that from his arrival in Spain until approximately October 2015, he had a rented home, and that same year, Spain was "his main center of personal relationships and economic and professional interests."

Regarding the amounts, the Public Prosecutor's Office emphasizes that Ancelotti received 14.8 million from Real Madrid solely in employment income, but he should have paid tax on his universal income tax in that 2015 tax year as well, but he did not. According to the Prosecutor's Office, he filed his 2014 and 2015 personal income tax returns for Real Madrid's remuneration on time, "but, in an attempt to unjustifiably evade his obligations to the public treasury, he omitted all income corresponding to the exploitation of his image rights." Thus, he owed a refund on his tax returns for both years. However, Carlo Ancelotti is accused of two crimes against the public treasury, corresponding to the 2014 and 2015 financial years.