A Spanish court has sentenced Carlo Ancelotti, who presently coaches the Brazilian national football team, to a year in prison for improperly paying taxes on his image rights during his first stint as Real Madrid manager.
The former head coach of Real Madrid and the Spanish government have been embroiled in a protracted legal dispute. In April, the 65-year-old made an appearance in Madrid’s Provincial Court.
During his initial period with the Spanish team from 2014 to 2015, the Italian manager was charged with purposefully giving false information to the tax office in order to evade paying more than €1 million (£833,000) in income tax.
When questioned about his income from the transfer of his image rights to Real Madrid, Ancelotti stated: “I was only concerned with collecting six million net for three years, and I never realized anything was wrong. I never received any communication that the Prosecutor’s Office was investigating me.”
He continued, “‘When Real Madrid proposed this to me (referring to the transfer of image rights) I contacted my English advisor and never went into the matter because everything seemed correct to me. I didn’t think it could be fraud, although if I’m here, I believe things weren’t so correct.'”
Ancelotti maintained his innocence throughout the trial.
Despite Wednesday’s verdict, it’s unlikely that Ancelotti will actually serve any time behind bars. Spanish law rarely requires individuals convicted of non-violent crimes to serve sentences of a year or less.
However, he will be required to pay a fine, reported to be around €386,000 (£332,768).
Ancelotti had previously admitted to underpaying tax in 2014, but attributed the error to mistakes made by his accountants.
He insisted that he didn’t break any laws in 2015 because he didn’t spend the 183 days required in Spain to be considered a tax resident.
However, since Ancelotti didn’t take over at Bayern Munich until 2016, prosecutors contended that his main source of income during that time was his position with Real Madrid. They had been seeking a prison sentence of four years if he was found guilty.
This past summer, just before he confirmed his much-discussed decision to take over as manager of the Brazilian national team, Ancelotti left his second spell with the Spanish powerhouse.
Ancelotti had amazing success with Real Madrid, winning 15 trophies during his tenure at the Bernabeu. During his first stint from 2013 to 2015, he won one Champions League title; during his second stint from 2021 to 2025, he won two more.
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