Carlo Ancelotti, the current manager of Brazil’s national football team and former coach of Real Madrid, has been sentenced to one year in prison by a Spanish court for tax fraud related to the 2014 financial year.
The court found that Ancelotti failed to pay taxes on income earned from his image rights during his first tenure as Real Madrid manager. He was also fined approximately €386,000.
The case centered on allegations that Ancelotti deliberately concealed income through artificial schemes involving shell companies to evade paying over one million euros in taxes.
The court described his actions as “blatantly fraudulent” and noted that the structures used lacked real economic justification, demonstrating clear intent to defraud the Spanish tax authorities.
Ancelotti denied intentionally committing fraud, explaining that he followed the legal advice of Real Madrid and its tax consultants and that he believed the arrangements were standard practice at the time.
He admitted to not paying sufficient tax in 2014 but attributed this to errors by his accountants. He settled the outstanding tax debt in December 2021.
Spanish law generally exempts first-time offenders from serving jail time if the sentence is under two years and the crime is non-violent, so Ancelotti is unlikely to serve prison time.
However, the court ruled that he will be disqualified from receiving public aid, subsidies, tax benefits, or social security incentives in Spain for three years.
Ancelotti was acquitted of similar charges related to the 2015 tax year due to insufficient evidence that he was a tax resident in Spain that year, as he moved to London in May 2015 after leaving Real Madrid.
The Italian coach had two spells at Real Madrid, first from 2013 to 2015 and then from 2021 to 2025, before taking over the Brazil national team.
Throughout the trial, Ancelotti maintained that he never intended to defraud the tax authorities and that the salary arrangements, including image rights, were negotiated by Real Madrid.
He emphasized that his focus was on securing a net salary and that image rights did not carry the same weight for coaches as they do for players.
This conviction places Ancelotti among several high-profile football figures who have faced tax investigations in Spain, including Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Jose Mourinho.
Despite the legal issues, Ancelotti remains one of football’s most successful managers, with multiple league titles and Champions League victories across Europe.
