July 10 – The legendary Carlo Ancelotti has been handed a one-year prison sentence and a €386,000 fine by a Madrid court for dodging tax on his image rights back in 2014, but don’t expect to see the Brazil coach doing time anytime in the pokey soon.
Under Spanish law, any sentence under two years for non-violent crimes rarely sees defendants without previous convictions actually serve jail time. So, while the headlines look dramatic, Ancelotti will almost certainly be managing at the next World Cup from the sidelines rather than a cell.
The 66-year-old Italian was cleared of similar charges for 2015 after the court couldn’t prove he’d stayed in Spain long enough to incur tax liabilities. Smart timing, really – Real Madrid sacked him in May 2015 and off he went to London, presumably with a cleaner tax slate.
State prosecutors had been pushing for up to four years and nine months on two counts of tax fraud, claiming Ancelotti had defrauded the Spanish state of €1million across 2014 and 2015. They accused him of using shell companies to hide his true earnings, including one outfit in the Virgin Islands that supposedly lacked “any real economic activity.”
It’s a story that’s become tediously familiar in Spanish football. Ancelotti joins a long list of high-profile players and coaches who’ve found themselves in the crosshairs of Spanish tax authorities. Cristiano Ronaldo, Diego Costa, and countless others have been through this particular wringer.
Most settle out of court with hefty fines, which is probably the sensible approach. New Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso, who replaced Ancelotti, proved in 2023 that fighting the charges can work – the Supreme Court upheld his acquittal after he refused to settle and defended his innocence. But for every Alonso, there are dozens who’ve simply paid up and moved on.
Ancelotti has won the Champions League five times – three with Madrid, twice with AC Milan – and remains the only coach to win domestic league titles in England, Spain, Italy, Germany, and France.
One wonders who does the accounting for these titans of the game.
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