Barcelona star sentenced to jail for tax fraud

The Barcelona player’s father joins his son in the sentence as Jorge Messi was also given a jail term for defrauding Spain between 2007 and 2009.

Messi and his father also face huge fines of tax fraud in Belize and Uruguay.

The World Player of the Year despite being handed the jail term is likely to avoid actually going to prison.

Under Spanish law, any jail sentence under the duration of two years can be suspended or served under probation.

A court ruling on Wednesday found the former Argentina captain who retired from international football after his team’s Copa America Centenario final defeat to Chile guilty of three counts of tax fraud.

Lionel Messi said he never suspected any wrongdoing when his father would ask him to sign contracts or document relating to his image rights during the trial.

The 29-year-old is one of the highest earning athletes in the world.