Ancelotti is not the only one: Messi, Cristiano and other football giants accused of tax fraud

The Madrid Prosecutor’s Office requests four years and nine months in prison for Carlo Ancelotti (64) for allegedly having defrauded the Treasury of more than one million euros in the fiscal years of 2014 (386,361 euros) and 2015 (675,718 euros). The director of Real Madrid CF is charged with two crimes, because although he stated that he was a resident in Spain for tax purposes and reflected that his domicile was in Madrid, he only recorded in his income tax returns the personal work remuneration received from Real Madrid and omitted the performance corresponding to the exploitation of its image rights that it had transferred to other entities. However, this is not the first time that this type of situation has occurred in football, as other figures in this field have also had problems with the treasury.

As of this Wednesday, Ancelotti becomes part of the players accused of tax fraud, which are quite a few. In fact, you can start with one of the most successful: Lionel Messi (36). The footballer was sentenced for fraud of more than four million to 21 months in prison, a sentence of less than two years for which the athlete avoided prison by not having a criminal record. The sentence also included fines of two million euros for the former Barcelona CF player and 1.3 million euros for his father. Cristiano Ronaldo (39), For his part, he also agreed with the Prosecutor’s Office for two years in prison and almost 19 million in fines for tax fraud of more than 14 and a half million.

Added to these cases is the one that led to Gerard Piqué (37) to pay 2.1 million euros. The former Barça footballer and businessman was investigated for not paying taxes for three years. Specifically, in the years 2008, 2009 and 2010. It was suspected that he had simulated an image rights contract with a company in which he would be the majority shareholder. Finally, he was acquitted and the fine was withdrawn. Iker Casillas (42) also had to pay a similar amount: 2 million euros. The former Real Madrid CF goalkeeper was subjected to an inspection for discrepancies in the interpretation of tax regulations.

Neymar (32) repeated for several years on the list of defaulters, owing up to 34.6 million euros, while Luka Modrik (38) faced a payment of 1.4 million euros for irregularities in his personal income tax. Radamel Falcao (38) agreed to pay more than 9 million euros. In addition, Diego Acosta paid a fine of 543,000 euros. Adriano Correiaone of 323,000 euros.

However, not everyone suffered the same fate. An example of this is the case of Xabi Alonso (42), who won the battle in court and was acquitted. The current Bayer Leverkusen coach was accused of a million-dollar fraud for which he could be imprisoned for up to five years. However, he defended his position until, finally, demonstrating that his corporate structure in the management of image rights was legal.