UNBELIEVABLE: Brazil manager Carlo Ancelotti faces a year in prison for tax offence A Madrid court has sentenced Brazil manager Carlo Ancelotti to a year in prison and a €386,361 fine for not paying taxes on his image rights profits during the 2014 fiscal year.

 

Section 30 of Madrid’s provincial court cleared Ancelotti of a similar infraction pertaining to the 2015 tax year. Ancelotti left Real Madrid at the conclusion of the team’s 2024–25 La Liga season to take over as manager of Brazil. From 2013 to 2015 and again from 2021 to 2025, the Italian head coach oversaw Real Madrid. Since Ancelotti moved to London in May 2015 after being fired by Madrid, the court was unable to establish that he had remained in Spain long enough to be subject to tax obligations. Spain rarely imposes jail terms of less than two years for first-time and non-violent offenders. In 2020, Ancelotti, 65, was charged with allegedly not paying approximately €1.62 million ($1.24 million; £915,000 atThe case was heard in the 30th Criminal Court of the Provincial Court of Madrid on April 2 and 3. It was explained on the first day of proceedings that Ancelotti had since paid his €1.5 million debt to the Spanish tax authorities in 2021. The charges concerned earnings from Ancelotti’s image rights during his first stint as Madrid head coach in 2014 and 2015, with the allegation that the Italian had failed to include the relevant income in his tax returns, despite declaring himself as a tax resident in Spain and listing his residence as Madrid. Ancelotti had declared he would not try to reach a settlement with the prosecution, so he chose to testify.

 

Ancelotti argued that, in regards to the revenue from his image rights, Madrid had a duty to make the appropriate withholding for the tax authorities. He “never” planned to swindle, he told the court on the first day. Ancelotti claimed to have directly negotiated a three-year, €6 million nett annual contract with Madrid. “Because I am not an expert, I negotiate in nett (salary),” he continued. Since all of the players and the former coach, Jose Mourinho, had done the same at the time, I assumed that was pretty typical. Since coaches don’t sell jerseys, their image rights aren’t the same as those of players.“Image rights have never been important to me. All that mattered to me was earning a nett six, or €6 million nett a year. Five tax experts—three called by the prosecution, one by the defence, and one from the tax office—appeared as witnesses and were questioned by attorneys from both sides on the second day of the trial following Ancelotti’s evidence and interrogation on the first day. From 2013 to 2015, Ancelotti served as Madrid’s first coach for two seasons. Following stints at Everton, Napoli, and Bayern Munich, he rejoined the Spanish team in June 2021. Ancelotti won three Champions Leagues, two La Liga crowns, and two Copas del Rey during his two stints with Real Madrid.