Whilst much of the current talk at the moment is about the current head coach of Real Madrid, Xabi Alonso, there has been some breaking news about his predecessor and his own former manager – Carlo Ancelotti.
Today, news in Spain have confirmed that the 66-year old has been sentenced to one year in jail for tax fraud. He won’t serve prison time, but he will pay over 386,000 Euros in fines. He was acquitted of a similar charge back in 2015.
Some are wondering why he will not actually spend time behind bars. Although the fine is hefty in isolation, six figures is a drop in the ocean for someone with the career earnings of Ancelotti. So, has he really been punished here?
Nevertheless, the 211 million people in Brazil will be relieved. The national team spent years chasing the Italian pretty publicly, it would have been an absolute disaster if he was sent to prison after just two games in charge of the national team – with less than a year until the 2026 World Cup in North America.
Brazil’s next games will be at home to Chile and away to Bolivia in the extreme altitude. The Selecao have already secured their World Cup qualification – making it 23 out of 23 attempts – but it would do Ancelotti no harm to try and build some chemistry in a currently dysfunctional side.
Although there are no national team games for two months, the manager is set to be kept busy by plenty of domestic games that are set to take place over the coming months.
