Ancelotti managed Real Madrid from the summer of 2013, marking his first professional experience in Spain. A year later, the Italian coach was accused of using offshore companies in the Virgin Islands and London to receive payments for his image rights.
Half of Ancelotti's image rights belonged to Real Madrid. The remaining portion, amounting to 1.6 million USD, was transferred to him by the club for the 2013-2014 season, and 2.1 million USD for each of the following two seasons.
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Coach Carlo Ancelotti during Brazil's match against Paraguay at Neo Quimica Stadium, Sao Paulo, Brazil, 10/6/2025. Photo: Reuters |
Coach Carlo Ancelotti during Brazil's match against Paraguay at Neo Quimica Stadium, Sao Paulo, Brazil, 10/6/2025. Photo: Reuters
The Spanish Prosecutor's Office stated that this arrangement allowed Ancelotti to evade over 450,000 USD in taxes in 2014. The following year, he was accused of evading over 790,000 USD in taxes. However, the court dismissed this accusation because the prosecution could not prove Ancelotti had resided in Spain for more than 183 days, the minimum number of days required for an individual to be subject to personal income tax in Spain.
Ancelotti's defense lawyer stated that he had paid 20% of his income in taxes to the UK in 2015, instead of the 49% required under Spanish tax law.
According to the Spanish newspaper Marca on 9/7, the case was retried, and Ancelotti was found guilty of evading over 450,000 USD in taxes. He received the minimum sentence under the law: one year. According to Spanish law, sentences for non-violent crimes of two years or less are suspended. Therefore, Ancelotti will not serve jail time and will continue to coach the Brazilian national team.
The prosecutor initially proposed a 4-year prison sentence for Ancelotti. However, he testified in court that he had no intention of committing fraud and was merely following the advice of Real Madrid and his assistants. Mitigating factors, such as voluntarily paying the owed taxes in 2021 and cooperating with the investigation, were also considered.
Ancelotti is not the first football figure to receive a sentence for tax fraud in Spain. In 5/2017, Lionel Messi's father, Jorge, was sentenced to 21 months in prison, later reduced to 15 months, for tax fraud related to his son's image rights. In 12/2019, Cristiano Ronaldo also received a 21-month suspended sentence for the same reason.
Hoang An (Marca)
