Carlo Ancelotti sentenced to prison in Spain over tax fraud

A Spanish court sentenced Brazil coach Carlo Ancelotti to a one-year suspended prison term for tax fraud when he was Real Madrid manager in 2014.

The Madrid court also fined Ancelotti 386,000 euros ($452,187) during Wednesday’s proceedings.

Spanish prosecutors accused Ancelotti of defrauding the state of 1 million euros ($1m) in 2014 and 2015.

State prosecutors sought a prison sentence of up to four years and nine months on two counts of tax fraud.

But the former Chelsea, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain boss, who no longer lives in Spain, will not serve jail time because the sentence is less than two years and he has no criminal record. In Spain, a judge has the discretion to suspend a sentence of less than two years for first-time offenders.

In March 2024, prosecutors accused Ancelotti of having used shell companies to hide his true earnings. They claimed Ancelotti, for example, used one company that lacked “any real [economic] activity” in the Virgin Islands as part of an alleged scheme.

Carlos Sanchez, Ancelotti’s press officer, told The Associated Press that the coach “will not make comments for now.”

Brazil’s football confederation (CBF) said in a statement that it was following the case.

The Italian coach is the latest in a string of major football profiles to face a crackdown by Spanish authorities over unpaid taxes, although none have actually been sent to prison so far. That list includes star players Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, as well as Jose Mourinho, another former Madrid coach.

The CBF did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Ancelotti, who turned 66 last month, is one of football’s most successful coaches. He is the only coach to have won the Champions League five times, three with Madrid and twice with AC Milan, and the only coach to have won domestic league titles in England, Spain, Italy, Germany and France.

The former Italy midfielder left Real Madrid to become Brazil boss at the end of last season after a rare trophy-less campaign in the 2024-25 season.