Spain's prosecutors want Real Madrid coach Ancelotti imprisoned.

Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti was ordered to serve four years and nine months in prison by Spanish authorities on Wednesday due to his failure to report his income to the tax office.

The 64-year-old Italian is charged by the Madrid state prosecutor’s office with costing Spain’s coffers over one million euros in unreported image rights profits in 2014 and 2015.

The tax office stated in a statement that “he only declared in his tax returns the personal remuneration received from Real Madrid, despite having himself declared himself to be a tax resident in Spain and indicating that his home was in Madrid.”

It claimed that Ancelotti had established a “complex” and “confusing” network of shell corporations to conceal his additional income from his image rights.

In order to preserve “opacity vis-a-vis” the Spanish treasury, prosecutors also claimed that the genuine Madrid coach “simulated” the transfer of his image rights to organizations “without any real activity” situated outside of Spain.

Regarded as one of the greatest coaches of all time, Ancelotti was ordered by a Spanish court in July to stand trial on the matter; however, a date has not yet been set.

– Spanish crackdown: In recent years, Spain has taken harsh measures against high-profile individuals who have not paid their fair share of taxes, including football players Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Given that they were first-time offenders, the prison terms for both players, who were found guilty of tax evasion, were suspended.

In order to settle a tax fraud case and avoid going to trial, Colombian diva Shakira agreed in November to pay 7.3 million euros in fines and get a three-year suspended sentence.

Shakira refuted the accusations made by the prosecution, stating that she only relocated to Spain permanently in 2015. The “Hips Don’t Lie” singer was accused of defrauding the Spanish state of 14.5 million euros ($15.7 million) on income obtained between 2012 and 2014.

In May of 2015, Ancelotti departed Real Madrid after taking over, and the following year, he was assigned to Bayern Munich.

After that, he managed Everton and Napoli before coming back to Real Madrid in 2021.

Ancelotti’s Real Madrid contract was set to expire in December, but he chose to extend it until June 2026, defying expectations that he would take over as coach of Brazil’s national team.

Ancelotti has won national league titles with Madrid and Milan, Chelsea in England, Bayern Munich in Germany, and Paris Saint-Germain in France.

He has also won the Champions League four times: twice with AC Milan and twice with Real Madrid.

Wednesday’s Champions League last-16 second leg match between Madrid and RB Leipzig will take place after Ancelotti’s team won 1-0 in Germany.