Former Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti sentenced to one-year jail for tax fraud

A Spanish judge on Wednesday (July 9) sentenced ex-Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti to one year in prison for 2014 tax fraud, a sentence which won't require the Brazil coach to actually report to jail. Prosecutors accused the Italian of setting up a network of shell companies to conceal additional income during his initial term as Real Madrid coach between 2014 and 2015, particularly via image rights.

They alleged the 66-year-old, one of the greatest football managers of all time, did not pay over one million euros in taxes because of the undeclared income in those periods, pursuing four years and nine months imprisonment against him. Ancelotti denied knowingly committing fraud in his highly publicised April trial, stating that he never had any idea that a deal to receive part of his salary in image rights would cost him less tax.

A Madrid judge said it had found Ancelotti guilty of "an offence against the treasury. to the punishment of one year in prison" and a fine of 386,361 euros ($452,821). Ancelotti had a "conscious will to circumvent the payment of tax on the income derived from the exploitation of his image rights, through artificial arrangements", the court said in a verdict.

"The conduct is patently fraudulent and the arrangements utilized fail to adhere to an economic logic of substance. The intentional concealment of income behind opaque structures and entities in tax havens betrays a fraudulent purpose," it further said.

But the ex-Chelsea, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain chief, no longer resident in Spain, will not go to prison because the sentence is below two years and he has a clean criminal record. Ancelotti was absolved by the court of the charge of fraud for the year 2015, stating that it could not determine "beyond reasonable doubt" that his fiscal domicile for the year was Spain.

He is added to the roll call of football legends who have come under Spain's clampdown on stars who have evaded paying their rightful dues. Former Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho was given a one-year suspended sentence after he pleaded guilty to tax fraud in 2019.

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo also faced convictions for tax evasion and were given jail terms that were suspended because they were first-time offenders. Ancelotti's illustrious career has included five Champions League titles as a coach and winning the European Cup twice with AC Milan as a player. Former Italy midfielder Ancelotti departed Real Madrid at the end of last season to take over as Brazil boss during a rare trophyless season.