Messi Sentenced to 21 Months in Prison for Tax Evasion Charges

Barcelona football star Lionel Messi has been sentenced to 21 months in prison over a tax fraud case in Spain.

Messi is unlikely to face any time in jail as a term of under two years in duration, for a non-violent offence, usually results in a period of probation under Spanish law.

The court in Barcelona found the Argentina player and his father, who handles his financial affairs, guilty of three offences.

His Father, Jorge Messi was also handed a 21-month prison term and fine of €1.7m (£1.4m).

Messi who earns £26m in annual salary under his current club contract alone and is said to be worth at least £240m, was told to pay €2m (£1.7m).

Both men have the right to take their sentences to appeal.

They were accused of using tax havens in Uruguay and Belize to hide more than £3m in earnings from image rights from the Spanish tax authorities.

The 29-year old footballer told his trial he knew nothing of how his money was managed and admitted signing documents without reading them.

He told the court last month: “The truth is no, the truth is no, I didn’t know.

“As my dad explained earlier I just dedicated myself to playing football, I put my trust in my father, in the lawyers who had decided to manage this thing.”

Messi’s lawyers said he never examined a series of contracts between 2007 and 2009 which dealt with the income from image rights with companies including Adidas, Pepsi-Cola, Danone, Procter and Gamble, Banco Sabadell and the Kuwait Food Company.

He made a voluntary payment of £3.8m in August 2013 to cover unpaid tax and interest.