Barcelona soccer star Lionel Messi has been sentenced to 21 months in prison after a court in Barcelona found him guilty of three counts of tax fraud, a statement from the court said on Wednesday.
The court also sentenced the Argentine soccer player's father, Jorge, to 21 months in prison for the same three crimes. The sentence can be appealed through the Spanish supreme court, the statement said.
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 (1.71 million pounds) and his father to pay 1.5 million euros (1.28 million pounds) for the crimes.
(Reporting by Madrid newsroom; Writing by Angus Berwick; Editing by Sonya Dowsett)
