Madrid, Mar 6 (AP) Spanish state prosecutors have accused Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti of alleged tax fraud, claiming he used shell companies to hide parts of his income during his first stint at the club a decade ago.

Prosecutors said in a statement Wednesday that they are accusing Ancelotti of two accounts of tax fraud that would be punishable with four years and nine months of prison. They accused the Italian coach of having defrauded 1 million euros in 2014 and 2015 by only declaring the income he received from Real Madrid while omitting his income from image rights.

Also Read | Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon Rise in ICC Men's Test Player Rankings 2024, Jasprit Bumrah Continues To Lead.

Prosecutors claimed he set up a “confusing” system of shell companies to hide his extra earnings. Ancelotti allegedly used companies “lacking any real activity” based outside Spain “so that neither he nor the mentioned companies had to pay taxes on the large sums earned in Spain or outside our country,” the prosecutors said.

The 64-year-old Ancelotti coached Madrid from 2013-15 before rejoining the club in 2021.

Also Read | India vs England 5th Test 2024, Dharamshala Weather Report: Check Out the Rain Forecast and Pitch Report at Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium.

Ancelotti is one of soccer's most successful coaches. He is the only coach to have won the Champions League four times, twice with Madrid and twice with AC Milan, and the only coach to have won domestic league titles in England, Spain, Italy, Germany and France.

He is the latest in a string of major soccer profiles to face a crackdown by Spanish authorities over unpaid taxes, although none have been sent to prison so far.

Former Madrid coach Jose Mourinho received a one-year suspended sentence after reaching a guilty plea for tax fraud in 2019. Star players Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo — among others — have also been found guilty of tax fraud in Spain. Similar to Ancelotti, Mourinho, Ronaldo and Messi were also accused of using shell companies outside Spain to hide revenue from image rights.

Ronaldo agreed to pay a fine of nearly 19 million euros (then USD 21.6 million) in 2019 and was handed a two-year suspended sentence that he didn't have to serve.

Messi and his father were found guilty of defrauding tax authorities of 4.1 million euros (then USD 4.6 million) but also avoided a jail sentence by paying hefty fines.

In Spain, a judge can suspend a sentence of less than two years for first-time offenders. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)