A Spanish court has sentenced Brazil’s national football team coach Carlo Ancelotti to one year in prison for tax evasion.
In addition, he has been fined 386,000 euros, equivalent to approximately 8.5 crore Bangladeshi Taka.Carlo Ancelotti served as head coach of Real Madrid in two separate terms. It was during the 2014-15 season that the tax evasion incident reportedly occurred.
He was accused of not paying taxes on income generated from image rights during that period.In the hearing, Ancelotti stated that he had not been informed by the club about the requirement to pay taxes on his image rights, which led to the unintentional evasion.
Despite the sentence, Ancelotti will not have to serve time in prison. According to Reuters, although Spanish law allows for prison terms for tax offenses, in reality, such sentences are rarely enforced, especially if the sentence is less than two years and the accused has no prior criminal record.
Previously, through his lawyer, Ancelotti had pleaded not guilty, but the prosecution sought a four years and nine months prison sentence along with a financial penalty. The case resurfaced after Ancelotti took over as Real Madrid coach for the second time.
