By Tony Attwood
The ex-Real Madrid, Chelsea, Everton and Brazil manager and/or coach Carlo Ancelotti, known for being the most successful manager in the entire history of the Champions League, has been given a one-year prison sentence and fined over a third of a million euros for tax fraud. The prosecution had asked for four years in prison. The case surrounded the multi-millionaire failing to pay tax on the earnings from his image rights.
However, it seems that he won’t serve time in prison as his first offence (well actually a whole set of offences, but they were heard as one), and it was for a non-violent crime. It seems he has been told, however, that he will go to prison if caught again.
This is just one of a whole stream of top managers over the years who have been seeking to avoid paying tax on their mega-earnings. Both Lionel Messi and his father got 21 months in prison each for tax evasion on image rights, and Christinao Ronaldo was convicted of tax fraud while playing for Real Madrid and handed a fine of around £15m, after doing a deal with the tax office, which avoided him going to prison.
And then of course there was the case of [José Mourinho](https://www.theguardian.com/football/2019/feb/05/jose-mourinho-prison-sentence-tax-fraud-real-madrid-fine#:~:text=Jos%C3%A9%20Mourinho%20accepts%20prison%20sentence%20for%20tax%20fraud%20but%20will%20not%20serve%20time,-This%20article%20is&text=Jos%C3%A9%20Mourinho%20has%20been%20given,the%20manager%20of%20Real%20Madrid.) who got a one-year suspended prison sentence a fine of getting on toward £2m for tax fraud, while he was the manager of Real Madrid.
Yet that is still not all, for not wishing to be seen as the poor relations, Atlético Madrid’s player Diego Costa was fined over half a million euros for tax fraud following his move to Chelsea.
It does just seem that no matter how much some of these players earn, they really don’t want to give anything back to the state to help provide the services upon which most of us rely at some time or other. (And just to be clear, ex-Arsenal player and then manager George Graham was not found guilty on these offences; he was found guilty of accepting illegal payments from an agent.)
Meanwhile, in other legal entanglements, it now seems that Crystal Palace can’t play in the Europa League after winning the FA Cup because Lyon have won their appeal against relegation to Ligue 2.
It looks utterly bonkers until you realise that both clubs have the same owner, and two clubs with the same owner can’t be in the same competition according to Uefa rules.
Lyon are owned by John Textor’s “Eagle Football Holdings”, which is a bit of a giveaway. But more than that, it means that since 2021, when Textor got hold of Palace, the situation has been just that. If Palace got a place in Europe, and Lyon did as well, Palace wouldn’t be able to take it up. It was just that nobody at the club or elsewhere bothered to take this point up, probably because they thought the chance of Palace winning something was too small to bother about.
The specific point is that Lyon were due to be relegated for financial irregularities but now aren’t relegated any more after various appeals, and so are free to take their place in the Uefa League but Palace can’t, because two clubs owned by the same person or organisation can’t be in a competition where they could play each other.
The only hope Palace have is that Textor does sell his shares in Palace to the owner of the New York Jets, as he has said he would – but even then, there isn’t a guarantee, as the Club Financial Control Body may still not like the arrangements. No one seems to know.
It is being said in some quarters, however, the Palace could play in the Conference League instead of the Europa League and Nottingham Forest could then move up to the Europa League. But whatever happens, it does emphasise the problems that arise when one very rich person owns two or more clubs.
The shareholders have been offering to put their shares in a blind trust, Palace are saying they will appeal, and the Palace man has said he has resigned as chief executive of the French club.
Palace, who have never played in a major European competition, are planning an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, while Lyon have set out a plan to put their finances in order, which at the moment doesn’t seem to be impressing anyone much.
Lyon are particularly known for winning the French league every single season from 2001/2 to 2007/8 inclusive, but since then have wandered around the top eight in the league without winning the title again. Last season, they came sixth, 23 points behind the winners PSG.
But then PSG (who have just reached the Club World Cup Final) have won the French League for 11 of the last 13 years, so it hardly seems worth the bother.