Messi handed suspended prison term after losing appeal
Lionel Messi has lost his Supreme Court appeal over a tax-fraud conviction in Spain.
Barcelona's marquee star Lionel Messi was cheered and jeered as he attended court accompanied by his father Jorge Horacio Messi last year. Photo: Claudio Perrone, NewZulu/AAP.
The court confirmed the 21-month prison sentence handed to Messi for defrauding tax authorities of 4.1 million euros from 2007-09.
He is not expected to go to prison because sentences of less than two years for first offences are usually suspended in Spain.
The court maintained the 2 million euro fine handed to the Argentina player in last year’s trial.
Messi’s father, Jorge Horacio Messi, also had been convicted of tax fraud, but the court reduced his sentence from 21 months to 15 months because he co-operated by returning the defrauded money to the tax authorities. He also is not expected to face prison time.
-AP
