Former Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti was sentenced Wednesday to one year in prison for a crime against the Spanish Treasury during the 2014 fiscal year, while he was acquitted of a similar crime related to 2015.

Legal sources informed EFE that the Provincial Court of Madrid has also sentenced him, in relation to the 2014 fraud, to a fine of 386,361.93 euros and the loss of the possibility of obtaining public aid or subsidies and the right to enjoy tax or Social Security benefits or incentives for three years.

The Prosecutor’s Office accused the current Brazilian national team coach of having defrauded a total of 1,062,079 euros—386,361 during the 2014 fiscal year and 675,718 in 2015—corresponding to the Italian’s first period as coach of Real Madrid.

Regarding the 2014 financial year, the court found it proven that the coach used a corporate structure domiciled in the Virgin Islands and London to collect the agreed-upon fees for his image rights, which were transferred 50% to Real Madrid.

However, it acquits the accused of the charges brought in 2015, as it failed to prove that the technician lived in Spain for at least 183 days that year, the amount required by law to be liable for tax.

After being dismissed as Real Madrid coach, he legally established his residence in London in April of that year, although he maintained a home in the Spanish capital.

Ancelotti asserted during the trial, held on April 2 and 3 in Madrid, that he never intended to defraud the Treasury and that he did what the club and his advisors told him to do, which is why he asked for his acquittal.

If convicted, he requested that mitigating circumstances be applied to him: compensation for damages, having settled the debt by December 2021, and undue delays.

Part of the amount you deposited will be returned to you.

Furthermore, Ancelotti deposited €1.4 million before the criminal proceedings to pay his tax debt, so part of that amount will be returned to him once the Tax Agency makes the corresponding adjustments to the amounts defrauded and paid by the coach.

Sources from the coach’s defense told EFE that, in addition to returning part of that money, since the ruling confirms that Ancelotti’s tax residence was in London during 2015, he will have to pay an even larger amount due to the excess taxes he paid in Spain during that year.

It was in 2020 that the Madrid Prosecutor’s Office filed charges against the coach for two possible crimes against the Spanish Treasury, for which it sought a four-year and nine-month prison sentence for Ancelotti, a request he maintained throughout the trial.

The Italian (Reggiolo, 1959) is the coach with the most titles in the history of Real Madrid, a team he coached in two periods (2013-2015 and 2021-2025) and which he ended up leaving this year to begin a new stage at the helm of the Brazilian national football team.