Tax Evasion: Ancelotti Sentenced To One Year In Prison

A Madrid court has handed down a one-year sentence and a €386,000 ($375,000) fine to Brazil coach, Carlo Ancelotti, for failing to pay tax on his image-rights revenues when he was Real Madrid manager in 2014, the court said in a statement.

However, ESPN reports that Ancelotti is likely to receive a suspended sentence as Spain law is such that any sentence under two years for a non-violent crime rarely requires a defendant without previous convictions to serve jail time.

Prosecutors sought a prison term of four years and nine months, and a fine of €3.2 million ($3.7m).

They contended that in 2014 and 2015, Ancelotti only reported the salary he was paid by Madrid, and omitted image rights income in his Spanish tax returns.

Ancelotti is the latest in a string of high-profile players and coaches to be investigated by Spanish tax authorities.

Many cases — including those of leading players such as Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Spain’s Diego Costa — were settled out of court, with large fines paid.

In 2023, however, the Supreme Court upheld the acquittal of former Bayer Leverkusen and now Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso after he refused to settle and defended his innocence.