A Spanish court has handed former Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti a one-year prison sentence for tax fraud related to undeclared earnings during his first tenure at the club in 2014.
The 66-year-old Italian, currently Brazil’s national team coach, will not serve jail time as the sentence falls below Spain’s two-year threshold for non-repeat offenders.
Prosecutors accused Ancelotti of using shell companies to conceal over one million euros in image rights earnings, reducing his tax liabilities.
“The actions are blatantly fraudulent and the structures used do not conform to a real economic logic,“ the court stated in its ruling.
Ancelotti denied intentional wrongdoing during his April trial, claiming he was unaware the arrangement was illegal.
The court fined him 386,361 euros but cleared him of fraud charges for 2015, citing insufficient proof of fiscal residency in Spain.
The case adds Ancelotti to a list of football stars penalised under Spain’s strict tax laws, including Jose Mourinho, Lionel Messi, and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Despite the conviction, Ancelotti’s legacy remains untarnished, with five Champions League titles as a manager and two as a player with AC Milan.
He left Real Madrid last season to take charge of Brazil’s national team. – AFP
