With legendary Italian manager and former Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti sentenced over tax fraud, we’re taking a look at Italian footballers who have been jailed in the past.
Ancelotti, 66, failed to pay tax on image rights revenue when managing Real Madrid in 2014.
He was first indicted in 2020, while managing Premier League club Everton.
The Spanish government accused him of defrauding €966k ($1.1m) between 2014 and 2015.
Earlier this week, he was sentenced to 12 months in jail.
Thankfully for Ancelotti, Spanish law states that first offenders for non-violent crime do not have to serve jail time if the sentence is under two years.
He has instead been fined €385k ($450k).
Ancelotti has also been acquitted of a further charge from 2015, also regarding revenue from his image rights.
Carlo Ancelotti Responds To Tax Fraud Case
Ancelotti, who was appointed Brazil head coach in May, is far from pleased with the charges.
The Italian manager has spoken out about the tax case relating to offences more than a decade ago.
“This is an old story,” he said.
“The Prosecutor’s Office believes I was a resident in 2015, and I believe I wasn’t.
“The fine has been paid, and the case is in the hands of my lawyers.
“I’m convinced I’m innocent. Let’s see what the judge decides.”
Ancelotti has strongly denied the current charges, but does admit to underpaying tax in 2014.
He claims that was due to errors by his former accounts, and told the court at his trial that he never intended to defraud the Spanish treasury.
Italian Footballers Who Have Been Jailed
But while Carlo Ancelotti has escaped spending any actual time behind bars, not everyone has been so lucky.
Below, we’ve listed some Italian footballers who have been to jail.
Vincenzo Iaquinta
Former Udinese and Juventus striker Vincenzo Iaquinta won 40 caps for Italy during his career.
But in 2015, illegal weapons were found in Ianquinta and father Guiseppe’s home.
Both were sent to trial for illegal possession of firearms and aiding the Calabrian Mafia.
On October 31, 2018, Ianquinta was found guilty of possessing illegal firearms and sentenced to two years imprisonment.
His father was found guilty of Mafia association, and received 19 years.
Fabrizio Miccoli
Ex-forward Fabrizio Miccolo played for numerous Italian clubs, including Juventus, Fiorentina and Lecce.
He was also capped 10 times by the Italian national team.
In 2013, Miccolo was investigated for extortion and accused of commissioning the son of a Mafia boss to collect money owed to him by a nightclub.
He was quoted via wiretaps of a taped telephone conversation. However, he was later acquitted in February 2014.
But his troubles didn’t end there.
Miccolo was again investigated for in 2015, and in 2017 was sentenced to three years and six months jail time for extortion, aggravated by Mafia method.
He as released in May 2022, after accepting to do community service for the remainder of his sentence.
Giovanni Padovani
A particularly unpleasant story is that of former model and footballer, Giovanni Padovani.
Padovani played for Serie D side Sancataldese in the Italian fourth tier.
But in 2022, he murdered his ex-girlfriend, Alessandra Matteuzzi.
He was jailed for life for stalking Matteuzzi before beating her to death with a hammer.
Padovani had flown to his former partner’s home and waited outside, before ambushing her in a brutal attack, which was overheard over the phone by Matteuzzi’s sister Stefania.
Giorgio Chinaglia
Ex-Lazio striker Giorgio Chinaglia started his football career in Wales in the 1960s.
He then moved back to Italy, leading Lazio to their first title in 1974.
But in 1996, he was handed a two-year jail sentence for fraudulent and false bankruptcy charges.
Chinaglia was also accused of having links to the Camorra crime syndicate.
And in 2006, an arrest warrant was issued for him over accusations of extortion and manipulation.
Michele Padovano
Former striker Michele Padovano played for the likes of Juventus, Genoa, and Napoli among other clubs, including English side Crystal Palace.
In May 2006, he was arrested by Italian police in Torino over alleged links to the hashish trade.
Padovano was later sentenced to eight years and eight months in jail, reduced to six years and eight months.
But in 2021, his previous sentences were cancelled, with him being declared not guilty and cleared of wrongdoing in 2023.
Manolo Portanova
The last on our list of Italian footballers jailed is Manolo Portanova.
Former Italy under-21s international Portanova played as at attacking midfielder for Reggiana.
In 2021, he was placed under house arrest after an injunction related to a rape case in the city of Siena.
He was then charged with gang rape, alongside his uncle, in 2022.
Portanova and his uncle were both sentenced to six years in jail.
In addition to this, Portanova was forced to pay €100,000 to the victim, €20,000 to the victim’s mother, and €10,000 to a Siena-based women’s shelter.
