Spanish prosecutors file tax fraud suit against Carlo Ancelotti

Prosecutors accuse the former Real Madrid manager of tax fraud in 2014 and 2015 totalling €1.062 million

Everton's Italian head coach Carlo Ancelotti looks on from the sidelines during Sunday's Premier League clash against Liverpool at Goodison Park. AFP

Spanish prosecutors have filed a tax fraud suit against Carlo Ancelotti, accusing him of hiding a substantial amount of money from the country's tax authorities during his time as Real Madrid manager.

Prosecutors said the suit filed against the Italian, currently manager of English club Everton, for two alleged incidences of tax fraud in 2014 and 2015 totalling €1.062 million (Dh4.36m).

The case will now be considered by a judge who will rule whether to accept the case before eventually summoning Ancelotti to answer the charges.

According to prosecutors Ancelotti declared his salary earnings from his time at Real but not "earnings from image rights, as well as those deriving from his relationship with the club and related contracts from other brands".

Prosecutors also claim that he did so in order to "avoid his obligations with the public treasury", accusing him of relying on a "complex network of shell companies" in an attempt to hide the identity of the beneficiary of those earnings from the tax authorities.

Ancelotti enjoyed a successful two-year stint in the Spanish capital, leading them to the Champions League, Copa del Rey, Uefa Super Cup and Fifa Club World Cup in 2014.

In recent years Spain has pursued some of the country's biggest football stars, including Barcelona's Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, formerly of Real Madrid.

Messi paid a €2 million fine in 2016 in his own tax wrangle and received a 21-month jail term.

Last year Ronaldo, now at Italian side Juventus, was handed a suspended two-year prison sentence for committing tax fraud while he was in Madrid.

The Portugal forward also agreed to pay €18.8 million in fines and back taxes to settle the case, according to judicial sources.

In 2018, another former Real Madrid manager, Jose Mourinho, accepted a one-year prison sentence as part of a deal to settle a Spanish tax evasion case

Spanish tax authorities had said the Portuguese manager owed €3.3 million (Dh12.7m) from his time in 2011 and 2012.