CARLO ANCELOTTI has been sentenced to one year in prison for tax fraud.
The Brazil manager has been found guilty of tax fraud in Spain dating back to 2014 during his first spell as Real Madrid boss.
Ancelotti, 66, was accused of concealing income related to his image rights.
But he has been acquitted of further tax charges, committed in 2015 and also related to the collection of his image rights.
Despite the verdict, Ancelotti is unlikely to serve any time behind bars.
Under Spanish law, any sentence under two years for a non-violent crime rarely requires a defendant without previous convictions to serve jail time.
The Italian will, however, have to pay fine of around £340,000.
Ancelotti spent three years in his first reign as Madrid boss, before leaving in 2016 to join Bayern Munich for a season.
After spells with Napoli and Everton, he returned to the Spanish capital in 2021 before leaving again to take over Brazil this year.
In total, he won two LaLiga titles and three Champions Leagues with Madrid.
Ancelotti was accused of misleading the tax office to avoid paying over £833,000 in income tax.
He had vehemently denied any wrongdoing – but the former AC Milan boss has previously underpaid tax.
He admitted to not paying his fair share of tax in 2014 but blamed his doing so on errors from his accountants.
Ancelotti is adamant he hasn’t broken the law, claiming he did not spend the 183 days in Spain required to pay tax.
Similarly, Barcelona legend Lionel Messi and his father, Jorge, were convicted of tax fraud for defrauding the government of £3.4m between 2007 and 2009.
In 2016, the Argentine was hit with a 21-month jail term for using tax havens to conceal his earnings from image rights.
But he ended up paying a fine of £223,000 instead.
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