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Real Madrid coach Ancelotti to face tax evasion trial

Carlo Ancelotti will stand trial for tax fraud after the Real Madrid coach allegedly failed to declare image rights earnings in 2014 to the Spanish tax office.

Published: 12 July 2023 17:21 CEST
ancelotti tax
Ancelotti had declared his earnings as Real Madrid coach in the 2014 tax year but not earnings from his image rights or other related income. (Photo by CRISTINA QUICLER / AFP)

A Spanish judge said Ancelotti had “acknowledged” the actions which deprived the country’s treasury of 386,361 euros ($428,000), in a court document seen by AFP on Wednesday.

“It is evident that there are sufficient indications to consider the deeds under investigation could constitute an alleged offence against the public treasury,” said the judge in her findings.

Ancelotti had declared his earnings as Real Madrid coach in the 2014 tax year but not earnings from his image rights or other related income, according to the accusations by the Spanish tax office.

The court official dismissed a similar complaint about Ancelotti’s tax return from 2015, which he filed while a tax resident in the United Kingdom.

The Italian, 64, took over at Real Madrid in 2013, before leaving in May 2015, before being appointed at Bayern Munich the following year.

Ancelotti later managed Napoli and Everton before returning to Real Madrid in 2021, where he has one year left on his contract.

The veteran coach has agreed to coach the Brazil national team from June 2024 onwards, the country’s federation said earlier in July.

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FOOTBALL

Rubiales to go on trial in February in Spain over unwanted kiss

Disgraced former Spanish football federation chief Luis Rubiales will stand trial in February next year for his unsolicited kiss on the lips of Women's World Cup winner Jenni Hermoso, the court overseeing the process said Monday.

Published: 17 June 2024 14:19 CEST
Rubiales to go on trial in February in Spain over unwanted kiss

Rubiales, 46, provoked worldwide outrage by kissing Hermoso during the medal ceremony after Spain beat England to win the World Cup in Australia last year.

In May a court had ruled Rubiales should be tried for sexual assault over the kiss, and for the alleged coercion subsequently exerted to make her say that it was consensual, without setting a date.

The trial will be held at the Audiencia Nacional, a Madrid court in charge of complex cases, from February 3 to 19, the court said in a statement.

Public prosecutors have requested a sentence of two-and-a-half years in prison for Luis Rubiales — one year for sexual assault and 18 months for coercion.

The prosecution is also asking for two years’ probation once the sentence has been served and for him to pay €50,000 ($54,000) in compensation to the player.

Rubiales is also under investigation in a separate alleged corruption case involving his reign at the federation, has denied any wrongdoing.

Three of his former associates are also being tried for putting pressure on Hermoso: former women’s coach Jorge Vilda, men’s team director Albert Luque and federation marketing boss Ruben Rivera.

The kiss took place live in front of the world’s cameras, provoking widespread outrage and prompting his suspension by world football governing body FIFA.

At the time, Rubiales brushed it off as “a consensual” peck on the lips, but Hermoso, 34, said it was not.

Under Spanish law, a non-consensual kiss can be classed as sexual assault — a criminal category that groups all types of sexual violence.

Rubiales told private Spanish television station La Sexta in April that he could not understand how the kiss he gave Hermoso could be labelled as sexual assault, saying there was “no sexual context” to it.

He denied accusations that he and other federation officials coerced Hermoso by pressuring her to speak out in his defence after the scandal erupted.

“I have a clear conscience, things have been blown out of proportion,” Rubiales said.

Hermoso filed a lawsuit against Rubiales in September, telling the judge she had come under pressure to defend him both on the flight back from Australia and on a subsequent team holiday to Ibiza in the Balearic Islands.

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