Legal: Lionel Messi sentenced to 21 months in prison (tax evasion), but he will not serve time

The Argentine Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona) and his father, Jorge Horacio Messi, were sentenced to 21 months imprisonment and were fined €3.69m in total for tax evasion, announced the court of Barcelona (ESP), on 06/07/2016. The player, however, will not face imprisonment because in Spain, judgments of under 24 months in jail result in a suspended sentence.

The judgement of the Barcelona court stated that Lionel Messi will have to pay a fine amounting to €2.09m to the Spanish tax authorities, and his father is obliged to pay €1.6m. The two men will appeal this decision, announced their lawyers on 06/07/2016.

The investigation, opened in 2013, focused on three tax fraud offences. Spanish judicial representatives accused the Argentinian player to have, with the help of his father and intermediary companies in Belize and Uruguay, hidden income relating to his image rights between 2007 and 2009. The amount mentioned during the trial, which was held between 31/05 and 02/06/2016, was €4.16m. The unpaid taxes have been paid, however, the two accused have denied the charges against them.

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