Carlo Ancelotti, the Brazilian manager of the national team, has been sentenced by a Spanish court for tax evasion. He was found guilty of failing to pay 1 million euros in taxes on his salary during his first spell as Real Madrid’s manager from 2013 to 2015. However, despite serving a one-year sentence, Ancelotti will not have to spend any time behind bars.
As under Spanish law, sentences under two years for non-violent crimes rarely require defendants without previous convictions to serve jail time. Ancelotti has maintained that he never intended to commit fraud and had relied on his financial advisers to handle the tax structure of his salary. He even testified in court earlier this year, stating that he thought it was normal practice at the time.
Ancelotti had already paid back the debt in full by December 2021. This conviction is not the first for a high-profile football figure – Lionel Messi initially received a 21-month prison sentence in 2017 but saw his punishment reduced to a fine, while Cristiano Ronaldo accepted an 18.8m euro fine in 2019. Even Jose Mourinho, another former Chelsea manager, was fined 2.2m euros for tax charges during his time as Real’s manager from 2011-12.
Source: https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/czeyjw0nx27o