Coach Carlo Ancelotti sentenced to 1 year in prison for tax evasion in Spain

(NLDO) - The Madrid court sentenced Carlo Ancelotti to one year in prison for tax evasion while he was Real Madrid's head coach in 2014-2015.

Summoned to court for a hearing and confrontation since April, Carlo Ancelotti has had to go through a long battle with the Spanish legal system. In the end, he still received a 1-year prison sentence for not paying image copyright tax.

The Italian coach was accused of deliberately making false declarations to tax authorities during his first term leading Real Madrid (2014 - 2015) to avoid paying more than $1 million in income tax.

Carlo Ancelotti appeared in court in April

Prosecutors allege that Ancelotti only declared in his tax returns personal remuneration received from Real Madrid in 2014 and 2015, even though he declared himself a tax resident in Spain and stated his residence as Madrid.

Ancelotti is also accused of setting up a complex system of shell companies to hide income from image rights as well as from other sources such as real estate. According to prosecutors, the former Real Madrid coach earned $1.34 million in 2014 and $3.2 million in 2015 from image rights.

Ancelotti firmly denies tax evasion charges

The 1-year prison sentence is considered too light for Carlo Ancelotti, because according to Spanish law, his case falls within the range of 4 years and 9 months in prison and he must also pay back to the Spanish budget the amount of tax evaded.

Carlo Ancelotti, however, maintained his innocence throughout the trial. He said: "I was only interested in the revenue of over $6 million over three years and I did not realize that there was anything wrong. I also never received any notice that the Public Prosecutor's Office was investigating me.

When Real Madrid raised issues regarding image rights, I contacted my English adviser and never looked into it further because I thought everything was fine. I don't think it was fraud."

Ancelotti accused of tax evasion while coaching Real Madrid in 2014-2015

Carlo Ancelotti admitted to underpaying tax in 2014, blaming an accountant's error. He insisted he did not break the law in 2015 because he did not stay in Spain for the full 183 days required to pay.

However, according to prosecutors, Ancelotti's main source of income during this time was from Real Madrid because he did not lead Bayern Munich until 2016.

Ancelotti first led Real Madrid in July 2013 and was terminated a year early, in May 2015. He continued to rent a house in Madrid until the end of 2015 before moving to work at Bayern Munich.

People sentenced to one year or less rarely spend time in prison in Spain

Despite the Madrid court's ruling on July 9, Carlo Ancelotti is unlikely to go to jail due to the peculiarities of Spanish law, which rarely requires those convicted of non-violent crimes to serve a prison sentence if the term is one year or less.

However, he will have to pay a fine believed to be as much as €386,000 (£332,768).

Ancelotti ended his second term as Real Madrid manager at the end of the 2024-2025 season and officially accepted the job of managing the Brazilian national team. During both periods at the Bernabeu, Ancelotti won a total of 15 titles, including 3 Champions League titles.

Ancelotti has also won 2 Champions Leagues, Serie A with AC Milan, Premier League with Chelsea, Ligue 1 with PSG and Bundesliga with Bayern Munich. With 5 Champions League titles, he is the most successful coach in the history of Europe's most prestigious tournament.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/hlv-carlo-ancelotti-bi-ket-an-1-nam-tu-vi-tron-thue-tai-tay-ban-nha-196250710075116403.htm