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A court in Spain on Wednesday sentenced Barcelona's star striker Lionel Messi and his father to 21 months in jail for tax fraud and slapped them with a fine of Euro 3.7 million ($4.1 million).
But these prison sentences are likely to be suspended, as is common in Spain for first offences for non-violent crimes carrying a sentence of less than two years.
The Barcelona court found the Argentina international and his father Jorge Horacio Messi guilty of using companies in Belize, Britain, Switzerland and Uruguay to avoid paying taxes on Euro 4.16 million of Messi's income earned from his image rights from 2007-09.
The income related to Messi's image rights that was allegedly hidden includes endorsement deals with Danone, Adidas, Pepsi-Cola, Procter & Gamble or the Kuwait Food Company.
