Carlo Ancelotti handed one-year jail term after being found guilty of tax evasion

Carlo Ancelotti has been sentenced to a one-year prison term after being found guilty of tax offences in a Madrid court.

But the former Real boss is unlikely to end up behind bars because under Spanish law any sentence under two years for non-violent crimes handed down to individuals very rarely requires a defendant to serve jail time.

In April prosecutors alleged Ancelotti, who is now head coach of Brazil, declared only his personal earnings from Real and did not include his earnings from the sale of image rights. It is claimed that Ancelotti failed to pay a total of €1,062,079 in tax on those rights in 2014 and 2015, during his first spell as head coach at the Bernabeu.

“I’ve never been bothered about image rights,” Ancelotti said in court. “Coaches aren’t that important – it’s the players who sell shirts. I was only bothered about getting the six million net for three years and I never realised that something wasn’t right and I didn’t receive any notification that I was under investigation by tax prosecutors.

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“I thought it was quite normal. I got in touch with my British adviser and I didn’t think any more about it because it all seemed right. I never thought a fraud could have been committed. But, given that I’m here, I guess things weren’t done that right.”

Ancelotti is just the latest high-profile figure in football to be found guilty of tax offences in Spain.

Lionel Messi and father Jorge were handed 21-month prison sentences for a similar charge in 2016 after being found guilty of owing more than €4m - although in Spain sentences of under two years do not have to be served.

In 2019 Cristiano Ronaldo agreed to pay an €18.8m fine along with a 23-month suspended prison sentence after admitting a charge.

Former Chelsea striker Diego Costa was also found guilty during his time at Atletico Madrid, along with Jose Mourinho, who paid €2.2m in fines and was served a suspended sentence of 12 months in 2019 relating to his time as Real head coach.

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