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Burley: Real Madrid's mistakes gave Sociedad good opportunities (2:07)
Craig Burley and the "ESPN FC" crew break down Real Madrid's tight-fought victory in stoppage time of the Copa del Rey semifinals. (2:07)
Reuters
Apr 2, 2025, 03:36 AM ET
Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti told a Spanish court on Wednesday he had believed his tax affairs were legal as he testified in a trial in which he is accused of failing to pay €1 million ($1.08m) in tax on image rights revenue.
"For me, everything was in order," Ancelotti said. "I never thought about committing fraud."
Taking the stand on the first day of the trial, the Italian said that when joining the Spanish team he had been offered a net salary of €6m and had left it up to the club and his British adviser how that was structured.
"I thought it was quite normal because at that time all the players and the previous coach had [done the same]," added Ancelotti, who testified for around 40 minutes.
He is the latest of several football celebrities to be investigated by the Spanish tax authority for alleged tax fraud.
Many cases, including those of leading players such as Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo and Spain's Diego Costa, have been settled out of court with large fines.
In 2023, however, the Supreme Court upheld the acquittal of Bayer Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso after he refused to settle and defended his innocence.
The prosecutor is seeking a prison term of four years and nine months and a fine of €3.2m for two counts of tax evasion in 2014 and 2015.
It argues that Ancelotti had only reported the salary he was paid by Madrid and had omitted income from his image rights in his tax returns.
Ancelotti told reporters last week he had complete trust in the Spanish justice system and that he was looking forward to testifying in court.
Before the hearing, the prosecutor said Spain's tax authority had seized the debt plus interests from Ancelotti.
The trial is scheduled to take place in a Madrid court over three days. The parties could reach an out-of-court agreement before the hearing starts or at any point in the process.
Ancelotti, a former player who was capped 26 times for Italy and played in the 1990 World Cup, returned to Madrid for a second stint as coach in 2021.
He has won the Champions League five times as a coach, twice with AC Milan and three times with Madrid.
