Carlo Ancelotti, the current head coach of Brazil’s national football team and former manager of Real Madrid, has been handed a one-year prison sentence by a Spanish court for tax fraud related to his time in La Liga.
According to a statement released on Wednesday by a Madrid court, Ancelotti was found guilty of failing to declare earnings from his image rights during the 2014 fiscal year while managing the Spanish giants. The court, however, cleared him of a second alleged offence tied to his 2015 tax returns.
Under Spanish law, prison sentences of under two years for first-time, non-violent offenders are typically suspended. This means that Ancelotti, who has no prior criminal record, is unlikely to spend time behind bars but will still carry a criminal conviction.
Ancelotti’s case adds his name to a growing list of high-profile football figures who have run afoul of Spanish tax authorities over the last decade, as the government has intensified efforts to clamp down on tax evasion in professional sports.
A pattern among football’s elite
Spain has become notorious for prosecuting football stars and managers over tax irregularities, often tied to undeclared income from lucrative image rights deals.
Among the most prominent cases:
- Lionel Messi, the Argentine superstar and former Barcelona captain, was convicted in 2016 of defrauding Spanish tax authorities of €4.1 million. Messi received a 21-month prison sentence, later converted into a fine.
- Cristiano Ronaldo, during his tenure at Real Madrid, was found guilty in 2019 of evading nearly €15 million in taxes between 2011 and 2014. He accepted a two-year suspended sentence and agreed to pay nearly €19 million in fines and back taxes.
- Jose Mourinho, another former Real Madrid manager, accepted a one-year suspended sentence in 2019 after being accused of hiding €3.3 million related to image rights earnings.
- Javier Mascherano, a former Barcelona defender, also faced conviction in 2016 for failing to declare about €1.5 million in income. He received a one-year prison sentence that was suspended.
- Xabi Alonso, ex-Real Madrid midfielder, was prosecuted over similar allegations but was acquitted after a lengthy legal battle, unlike many of his peers.
Ongoing scrutiny
These high-profile convictions underscore Spain’s tough stance on tax compliance in football, particularly over the complexities of image rights contracts, which often involve companies registered in tax-friendly jurisdictions.
Ancelotti, who managed Real Madrid between 2013 and 2015 and later returned to the club before taking up the Brazil national team job, is expected to continue his duties uninterrupted. However, his sentencing serves as yet another reminder of the Spanish tax authorities’ persistent scrutiny of the game’s biggest names.
