Lionel Messi's lawyers are about to be very busy men after it was just announced the Barcelona forward has been sentenced to 21 months in jail for three counts of tax fraud and fined €2 million, though the jail sentence has been suspended.
Both Messi and his father Jorge faced had faced charges since late last year of defrauding the the Spanish tax authorities to the tune of €4.1 million between 2007 and 2009.
They were found to have concealed cash brought in from Messi's image rights in tax havens in Belize and Uruguay.
During the trial, the five-time Ballon d'Or winner claimed that he "knew nothing" of the tax issues because he was busy "playing football."
According to Spanish law, a jail term under 24 months can be suspended and Messi and his father's sentence falls just underneath that. Neither Messi nor his father will receive criminal records.
A suspended sentence means that Messi will not see the inside of a prison cell but makes him extremely vulnerable to the authorities should he fall foul of the taxman in future.
This is a similar result to the similar charges which were levelled against Messi's Barca and Argentina teammate Javier Mascherano, who avoided a jail term for tax evasion but was ordered to pay a fine in the region of €815,000.
BREAKING: Spanish court sentences Barcelona soccer star Lionel Messi to 21 months in prison, fines him 2 million euros for three tax crimes
— Reuters Sports (@ReutersSports) July 6, 2016
