La Liga
ATLETICO MADRID STAR DIEGO COSTA SENTENCED TO SIX MONTHS IN PRISON FOR TAX FRAUD
Atletico Madrid ace Diego Costa has been sentenced to six months in prison for tax fraud in Spain – but the ex-Chelsea ace will pay €36,000 fine to avoid any jail time
Former Chelsea striker Diego Costa has been sentenced to six months in prison for tax fraud in Spain – but the Atletico Madrid ace will pay €36,000 fine to avoid any jail time.
Spanish law allows penal sentences below two years for non-violent crimes to be exchanged for a financial penalty.
As a result, Costa has agreed to pay an additional fine of €36,500 (£32,000) on top of the €507,000 (£450,000) to avoid prison time.
Spanish outlet El Mundo report the Brazilian forward pleaded guilty to a tax offence amounting to €1.1m.
He is accused of defrauding the state of more than £900,000 by not declaring payments of more than €5.15m (£4.63m) after his move to Chelsea in 2014.
The tax agency denounced Costa for defrauding the authorities regarding €1m (£890,000) in image rights.
The Spanish treasury added another fiscal crime to Costa before withdrawing and halving the fine.
However, they did give the striker an advance on his wages, meaning he could pay the fine in full.
The fee is said to be around €500,000 (£450,000).
Costa was called to testify in June last year, acknowledging the charges put against him.
The 31-year-old was spotted arriving in court today for a short period of time, donning a protective face mask.
An Atletico spokesman said on Wednesday: “Diego Costa reached an agreement a few months ago with the prosecutor and has already paid the corresponding fine plus interest and the request for a prison sentence was withdrawn.
“This week it is expected that agreement will be ratified in court, as is mandatory.”
Costa’s Chelsea stint ended in tears after a public fallout with Antonio Conte.
Reflecting on his time working with Conte at Stamford Bridge, Costa told ESPN : “[Conte and I] had problems off the pitch, but I think he is a really good manager.
“I have no hard feelings towards Conte, but to be a top, top manager, he needs to change the human side of his management. He is very suspicious. At a team like, say, Real Madrid, he would never last a season.”
It was mission accomplished, said Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti after his side fought back from two-goals behind to snatch a rip-roaring 4-4 draw on Tuesday for a 5-4 aggregate win that put them through to the Copa del Rey final.
Ancelotti brushed off questions about a sub-par performance by his side and praised his players’ effort in what he considered a highly entertaining encounter.
“We have achieved our goal today which was to reach the final and there is not much time to think about it,” Ancelotti told a press conference.
“It was an entertaining game with some mistakes and a lot of good things. It was fun and we are in the final.
“I never saw ourselves out of it because anything can happen at the Bernabeu. When we have to come from behind, we never give up. We never give up, especially at home, with the fans by our side.”
Ancelotti said David Alaba was not to blame after he deflected two balls into his own goal, calling it “bad luck” by the Austrian defender, but urged his defence to play with better focus moving forward.
“It’s not good to concede four goals in a game,” Ancelotti said.
“Right now we are a team that has a lot of effectiveness up-front, but little balance.
“However, we can’t ignore what we did in attack, scoring four goals against Real is not that easy. I think we are doing quite well.”
Real Madrid, who have won the Spanish Cup only once in over a decade, will play either Barcelona or Atletico Madrid in a mouth-watering final in Seville next month.
Atletico fought back to hold Barca to a thrilling 4-4 draw ahead of Wednesday’s second-leg in Madrid.
-Reuters
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Real Madrid’s legendary coach Carlo Ancelotti will go on trial next week for allegedly failing to declare income to Spain’s tax office, the Madrid court which will hear the case has said.
Prosecutors are seeking a jail term of four years and nine months for the 65-year-old Italian, accusing him of having cost Spain’s treasury more than one million euros ($1.1 million) in undeclared earnings from image rights in 2014 and 2015.
The trial will begin on Wednesday and it is expected to last two days, a spokesman for the court said.
Ancelotti, who as a coach has won a record five Champions League trophies including three with Real, must be present for the hearings, he added.
Prosecutors accuse him of only declaring in his tax returns the personal remuneration received from Real Madrid during those two years even though he himself declared himself to be a tax resident in Spain and indicated his home was in Madrid.
They accuse Ancelotti of allegedly setting up a “confusing” and “complex” system of shell companies to hide his extra earnings from his image rights as well as from other sources such as real estate.
A Spanish court in 2023 ordered Ancelotti to stand trial over the affair, but did not set a date.
Ancelotti dismissed the affair last year as “an old story that I hope will be resolved soon” when he was asked about the case.
He took over at Real Madrid in 2013, leaving in May 2015, before being appointed at Bayern Munich the following year.
The former Italy international midfielder, who as a player won the European Cup twice with AC Milan, later managed Napoli and Everton before returning to Real Madrid in 2021.
Aside from his success in the Champions League he has won domestic league titles with Madrid and Milan, in England with Chelsea, in Germany with Bayern Munich and in France with Paris Saint-Germain.
-AFP
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Spain’s former soccer chief Luis Rubiales told Reuters on Thursday he would appeal a court ruling which found him guilty of sexual assault for kissing player Jenni Hermoso without her consent.-
-Reuters
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