Former Argentina captain Lionel Messi has been sentenced to 21 months in prison for tax fraud, Spanish media reported on Wednesday.
Argentinian football sensation’s father, Jorge Messi, was also given a jail term for defrauding Spain of $4.6million between 2007 and 2009.
During the trial, prosecutors said tax havens in Belize and Uruguay were used to conceal earnings from image rights.
During the trial, Lionel Messi claimed he “knew nothing” about the management of his financial affairs, saying he was “playing football”.
However, under Spanish law a prison sentence under two years can be served under probation, meaning Messi and his father are unlikely to go to jail.
The court ordered Messi to pay a fine of around 2 million euros ($2.21 million) and his father to pay 1.5 million euros for the crimes.
The 29-year-old has been residing in Barcelona since 2000 and has had Spanish citizenship since 2005.
