Ancelotti, one of the most successful managers in football history, received a one-year suspended sentence and large fine.
A Spanish court sentenced Brazil coach Carlo Ancelotti to a one-year suspended prison term for tax fraud when he was Real Madrid manager in 2014.
The Madrid court also fined Ancelotti 386,000 euros ($452,187) during Wednesday’s proceedings.
Spanish prosecutors accused Ancelotti of defrauding the state of 1 million euros ($1m) in 2014 and 2015.
State prosecutors sought a prison sentence of up to four years and nine months on two counts of tax fraud.
But the former Chelsea, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain boss, who no longer lives in Spain, will not serve jail time because the sentence is less than two years and he has no criminal record. In Spain, a judge has the discretion to suspend a sentence of less than two years for first-time offenders.
In March 2024, prosecutors accused Ancelotti of having used shell companies to hide his true earnings. They claimed Ancelotti, for example, used one company that lacked “any real [economic] activity” in the Virgin Islands as part of an alleged scheme.
Carlos Sanchez, Ancelotti’s press officer, told The Associated Press that the coach “will not make comments for now.”
Brazil’s football confederation (CBF) said in a statement that it was following the case.
The Italian coach is the latest in a string of major football profiles to face a crackdown by Spanish authorities over unpaid taxes, although none have actually been sent to prison so far. That list includes star players Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, as well as Jose Mourinho, another former Madrid coach.
The CBF did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Ancelotti, who turned 66 last month, is one of football’s most successful coaches. He is the only coach to have won the Champions League five times, three with Madrid and twice with AC Milan, and the only coach to have won domestic league titles in England, Spain, Italy, Germany and France.
The former Italy midfielder left Real Madrid to become Brazil boss at the end of last season after a rare trophy-less campaign in the 2024-25 season.
Ancelotti, right, was the head coach at Real Madrid until two months ago when he departed to coach Brazil’s national side before the 2026 FIFA World Cup [Susana Vera/Reuters]
Brazil manager Carlo Ancelotti has been sentenced to a year in prison by a Spanish court for tax evasion – but he will not have to serve time in jail.
The former Chelsea and Everton boss was accused of failing to pay 1m euros (£830,000) in tax on his salary during his first spell in charge of Real Madrid from 2013 to 2015.
He will avoid prison but does have to pay a fine of 386,361.93 euros (£333,045.92).
Ancelotti, 66, ended a second spell with Real at the end of last season and took the Brazil job.
Under Spanish law, any sentence under two years for a non-violent crime rarely requires a defendant without previous convictions to serve jail time.
Earlier this year, Ancelotti said he “never thought about committing fraud” as he testified in court.
Ancelotti said he was offered a net salary of 6m euros (£5.1m) by Real and that he left the structure of it to his financial advisers.
“I thought it was quite normal because at that time all the players and the previous coach had [done the same],” he said.
Ancelotti paid back the debt in full in December 2021.
Lionel Messi, then with Barcelona, was initially given a 21-month prison sentence in 2017, but this punishment was then reduced to a fine of 252,000 euros, with no jail term attached. Real striker Cristiano Ronaldo accepted an 18.8m euro fine in 2019.
Jose Mourinho, another former Chelsea boss, was fined 2.2m euros relating to tax charges during his time as Real manager from 2011-12.
Bayer Leverkusen’s Xabi Alonso poised to replace departing Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti, according to media reports.
Former Real Madrid midfielder Xabi Alonso is set to become the club’s next manager on a three-year deal when he leaves Bayer Leverkusen after this season, Spanish media report.
Alonso, 43, is expected to replace Real boss Carlo Ancelotti, who – despite having a year remaining on his Madrid contract – has just been confirmed as the new manager of Brazil in the run-up to the 2026 World Cup, the Brazilian FA (CBF) said on Monday.
Alonso, who said earlier this month that he was leaving Leverkusen after guiding them to the double last term, will join Real before the inaugural Club World Cup in the United States from June 15 to July 13, multiple media reports said.
Alonso, who also played for Liverpool and Bayern Munich, last season steered Leverkusen to their first Bundesliga title, ending the Bavarians’ 11-year domination, and they also won the German Cup and German Super Cup.
Real Madrid’s star forward Kylian Mbappe reacts after his side’s 4-3 loss to Barcelona in La Liga at the Olympic Stadium in Barcelona, Spain, on May 11, 2025 [Jose Breton/AP Photo]
Ancelotti’s departure from the club come as no surprise after Real’s 4-3 defeat at Barcelona in a thrilling El Clasico on Sunday left his side on the brink of a trophy-less season.
The 65-year-old Italian, who returned for a second stint at Real in June 2021, led the Spanish giants to two Champions League and La Liga doubles, the latest of which came last season.
He exits Real Madrid as the most successful manager in the club’s history with a total of 15 trophies and the first coach to claim titles in Europe’s top five leagues.
However, this season Real were knocked out of the Champions League in the quarterfinals by Arsenal, and allowed Barca to fight back and win 3-2 in the Copa del Rey final.
Second-placed Real are seven points adrift of Barcelona, who could secure the league title on Wednesday without kicking a ball if Real fail to win at home to Mallorca.
Regardless of Real’s result, a Barca victory in the city derby away to Espanyol on Thursday would clinch the title.
An official announcement regarding a managerial change is expected before Real’s last game of the season at home to Real Sociedad on May 25.
Ancelotti is expected to receive a fitting farewell, recognising his four highly successful years with the club.
Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti has just been confirmed as the new manager of Brazil, opening the door for ex-Real player Xabi Alonso to take over at the Spanish club [File: Alberto Estevez/EPA]
In over a century of international football, Brazil’s football federation has largely shied away from trusting foreign managers with its top job.
Only three non-Brazilians have ever led the side, and they coached just seven games in all.
Uruguayan Ramon Platero was the first in 1925 and managed four games, Joreca from Portugal managed two games in 1944, with Argentine Filpo Nunez the last foreign appointment, managing a single game in 1965.
It has been a similar story in Brazil’s domestic league, Serie A. The sense had always been that only a Brazilian could truly understand what it means to play football there.
This culture changed soon after Portuguese coach Jorge Jesus, who was linked in recent reports, external as another candidate for the Brazil job, took over in 2019 at Flamengo.
His arrival initially came amid doubts that a pragmatic European system could bring success.
Jesus went on to lead Flamengo to the league title as well as the Copa Libertadores, with the Rio de Janeiro club experiencing one of their most successful seasons ever. His team won 43 of their 57 games before Jesus left in July 2020.
Since then there has been a domestic shift and acceptance of foreign coaching in the country – and this is now translating to the international stage.
“This is an important wall coming down,” Vickery told BBC Sport.
“Especially as it now seems that Ancelotti wants to do the job from Europe which is going to be very controversial.”
Ancelotti will be the first true European titan at the helm, with a decorated trophy cabinet that includes five Champions League titles and domestic trophy success in Italy, England, France, Spain and Germany.
Carlo Ancelotti says Xabi Alonso has “all the doors open” for a move to a big club, with speculation building that the former Real Madrid midfielder is set to replace the Italian coach at the helm of the Spanish powerhouse.
Ancelotti gave his routine pre-game news conference on Saturday, a day after Alonso announced he was leaving Bayer Leverkusen.
He praised the work of Alonso, who has been widely linked to an eventual move back to Madrid after leading the German club to the Bundesliga title last season.
“I read that Xabi is leaving Bayer Leverkusen, where he did a fantastic job,” Ancelotti said before Sunday’s trip to Barcelona. “He has all the doors open because he has shown that he is one of the best coaches in the world.”
Xabi Alonso confirmed in a news conference on Friday that he would leave Leverkusen at the end of the season [Marius Becker/Picture Alliance via Getty Images]
Ancelotti again refused to speak about his future, especially before a decisive Clasico in LaLiga. Madrid trail Barcelona by four points and need to win to keep alive their chances of winning a trophy this campaign.
But he did speak movingly about what Madrid means — and will mean — for the most successful manager in European football.
For Ancelotti, his relationship with the club he has spent six seasons at in two stints is an everlasting “honeymoon”.
“The honeymoon with this club never ends, it continues forever,” he said. “I think that Real Madrid, like Milan before, are the teams that stay with me, given the time I have spent here. At the beginning, there is passion, and when that fades, other feelings emerge, a sense of tender care. My honeymoon with Real Madrid will last for as long as I live.”
The 65-year-old coach is under contract through the next campaign but is widely expected to leave after an underwhelming season in which the team played worse despite adding Kylian Mbappe to its squad.
Brazil have been courting Ancelotti for over a year, and it appears talks are still ongoing with the veteran manager.
Real Madrid must play ‘complete’ game at Barcelona
With only four games remaining of the LaLiga season, only a win will realistically keep Real’s hopes of retaining the title, and for Ancelotti, they will need to get everything right to have a chance on Sunday.
“In this type of game, you have to do things well. Barcelona are used to keeping the opponent in their own area, but no team is perfect,” he said.
“It’s a game where there’s a lot at stake, and to win, you have to manage everything well, defend well, attack well. We have to play a complete game.”
With so much at stake against their great rivals, Ancelotti will have little trouble getting his players fired up.
“It’s not difficult to motivate the players because it’s the type of match for which the players already come out motivated and with a lot of confidence,” he said.
“Playing with Barcelona is special. It will be the last ‘El Clasico’ of the season because Barca are not in the Club World Cup.”
Barcelona’s players have discussed last week’s Champions League elimination and are ready to put their disappointment behind them against rivals Real Madrid, manager Hansi Flick said in his news conference on Saturday.
Barca suffered a 4-3 Champions League semifinal defeat by Inter Milan on Tuesday.
A home win on Sunday would move Flick’s side one victory away from their 28th Spanish league title.
“We’re doing well. After the defeat in Milan, everyone knows it’s not easy … but we’re doing things right. We’ve talked about what we want to do in these two weeks,” Flick told reporters.
“There are four more games to go. El Clasico is important, we have to show how well we can play. We have to show confidence. The players are doing very well … We’ve been talking about what they are thinking, what they are feeling.
“We had to talk about it as a group. Everyone knows that in a Clasico, you have to give 100 percent. You have to be active, intense, dominant. Real Madrid is a very good team, and we need the fans.”
El Clasico – the low down
Translated as “The Classic” in English, El Clasico is the name given to any football match between rival clubs Barcelona and Real Madrid.
The special matchup between these football sides was born out of a more-than-a-century-old political-historical dimension between an increasingly distinct Catalan national identity, with FC Barcelona representing Catalonia, pitched against the centralised power structures of Spain’s capital city, Madrid, and by extension, its most famous football club, Real Madrid.
The first match between the two Spanish mega clubs was played on May 13, 1902.
In total, 260 matches have been played. Real Madrid lead in head-to-head results with 105 wins to Barcelona’s 103, with 52 draws.
Last five LaLiga matches
Barcelona: W-W-W-W-D (most recent fixture first)
May 3, 2025 – Real Valladolid 1-2 Barcelona April 22, 2025 – Barcelona 1-0 Mallorca April 19, 2025 – Barcelona 4-3 Celta Vigo April 12, 2025 – Leganes 0-1 Barcelona April 5, 2025 – Barcelona 1-1 Real Betis
Real Madrid: W-W-W-W-L (most recent fixture first)
May 04, 2025 – Real Madrid 3-2 Celta Vigo April 23, 2025 – Getafe 0-1 Real Madrid April 20, 2025 – Real Madrid 1-0 Athletic Club April 13, 2025 – Alaves 0-1 Real Madrid April 5, 2025 – Real Madrid 1-2 Valencia
