Why Carlo Ancelotti faces up to nearly 5 years in prison

Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti faces up to almost five years in prison if Spanish prosecutors get their way, as he faces tax fraud allegations at a court in the Spanish capital.

The charges relate to image rights payments during his first spell at the Bernabeu a decade ago, which tax authorities argue were concealed in overseas shell companies. Prosecutors have requested jail time of four years and nine months, as well as a €3.2m fine, if Ancelotti is found guilty.

Ancelotti has argued that, having been primarily concerned with securing himself a particular salary, he considered it "quite normal" when Madrid offered to pay 15% from image rights. He said that had also been the case for the players and former coach Jose Mourinho – his predecessor was given a one-year suspended prison sentence and fined €2.2m in 2019 after admitting to tax fraud.

"I've never been bothered about image rights. I was only bothered about getting the €6m net for three years and I never realised that something wasn't right and I didn't receive any notification that I was under investigation by tax prosecutors," the 65-year-old told the court.

"I thought it was quite normal. I got in touch with my British adviser and I didn't think any more about it because it all seemed right. I never thought a fraud could have been committed. But, given that I'm here, I guess things weren't done that right."

Even if found guilty, the likelihood of Ancelotti actually serving jail time still seems low.

Spain's tax authority has repeatedly secured convictions against high-profile football stars in recent years – including Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in 2016 and 2019 respectively.

Both were given suspended prison sentences of between 21 and 23 months, with Spain's justice system not requiring such sentences under two years to be served. In each case, the requested sentence was longer than what was eventually passed down.

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