Barcelona soccer star Messi sentenced to 21 months in prison

[July 06, 2016]    MADRID (Reuters) - 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.

Barcelona's Argentine soccer player Lionel Messi (L) sits in court with his father Jorge Horacio Messi during their trial for tax fraud in Barcelona, Spain, June 2, 2016. REUTERS/Alberto Estevez

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 ($2.21 million) and his father to pay 1.5 million euros for the crimes.

(Reporting by Madrid newsroom; Writing by Angus Berwick; Editing by Sonya Dowsett)

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