Brazil coach Ancelotti sentenced to one year in prison for tax fraud

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

The Madrid court also fined Ancelotti 386,000 euros ($452,187). Spanish prosecutors accused Ancelotti of defrauding the state of 1 million euros ($1 million) in 2014 and 2015.

State prosecutors sought a prison sentence of up to four years and nine months on two counts of tax fraud. In March 2024, they accused Ancelotti of having used shell companies to hide his true earnings.

Prosecutors claimed Ancelotti, for example, used one company that lacked “any real (economic) activity” in the Virgin Islands as part of an alleged scheme.

In Spain a judge can suspend a sentence of less than two years for first-time offenders. Prosecutors had asked for a sentence of almost five years. A staffer in Ancelotti's team told The Associated Press that his lawyers welcomed the court's decision, which also ruled that Ancelotti was not formally a Spanish resident in 2015.

The staffer spoke under condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. Brazil’s soccer confederation has not publicly commented on the court's ruling.

The Italian coach is the latest in a string of major soccer 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. Ancelotti, who turned 66 last month, is one of soccer’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. Ancelotti left his second stint at Real Madrid to take over Brazil’s national team.