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A Spanish court has sentenced current Brazil national team and former Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti to one year in prison for tax fraud.
The Madrid Provincial Court handed down the sentence on Wednesday for the offence committed in 2014 and fined him just over €386,000 which he must pay to the tax authorities.
The court has also acquitted him of similar charges relating to the 2015 tax year, due to a lack of evidence of his residence in Spain during that period.
Despite the conviction, Spanish law stipulates that sentences of less than two years for non-violent offences and provided the person possesses no criminal record, serving time in prison is not mandatory. It is therefore likely that Ancelotti will settle his dues and avoid his prison term.
The court ruling however establishes that, for a period of three consecutive years, the football coaching icon, whose career has seen him take the helm of top European sides including AC Milan, Bayern Munich, PSG and Chelsea, will not be able to obtain or claim public aid, subsidies, tax benefits or social security incentives in Spain.
Ancelotti claims he followed Real Madrid’s advice
During the trial in April, Ancelotti claimed he has always acted on the legal advice of Real Madrid and its tax consultants, denying that he had any intention of defrauding the tax authorities.
He added that he settled the outstanding debt with the tax office in December 2021 and asked that the mitigating factors of damages and procedural delays be taken into account.
Carlo Ancelotti was in charge of Real Madrid across two stints, the first between June 2013 and May 2015, and the second from June 2021 until May 2025, when he ended his tenure at the club to take over a new challenge: leading the Brazilian national team to its record extending 6th World Cup title, scheduled to take place in the summer of 2026.