Lionel Messi, father sentenced for tax fraud by Spanish court

Barcelona, July 6: Lionel Messi and his father Jorge have been sentenced to 21 months in prison for tax fraud, but the Barcelona forward is not expected to spend any time behind bars.

The Court of Catalonia on Wednesday found that the Messis had evaded tax on Lionel’s image rights, with more than €4m owed in back payments. But because the court’s sentence was less than two years and neither Messi has a criminal record, neither will be sent to prison.

Prosecutors had alleged that tax havens in Belize and Uruguay were used to conceal earnings from image rights. But Messi said he “knew nothing” about his financial affairs, while his father said he was told by a legal adviser that the practice was legal.

The conviction is unlikely to hinder Messi’s football career, however, with the 29-year-old now free to attend Barcelona’s first day of pre-season training next week.

Any potential move to play in the Premier League in the future should also not be an issue given current guidelines regarding the issuing of work permits to non-EU citizens. At present, all applicants must first obtain a Governing Body Endorsement (GBE) based solely on a player’s sporting prowess before that is forwarded to the Home Office for assessment.

While some criminal offences – usually for prison sentences of more than 12 months– can result in an application being automatically rejected, the terms of Messi’s conviction means that he is unlikely to be denied a permit.

The disputed tax payments date back to a period from 2007 to 2009, a time when Messi helped to transform Barça into the world’s best team. He has now, however, been fined €1.7m for three counts of tax fraud while his father has been given a €1.3m fine, although both men can appeal against these sentences at the supreme court.

The news comes just nine days after Messi surprisingly announced his retirement from international football after missing a penalty in Argentina’s defeat to Chile in the Copa América final.

Messi is not the only Barcelona star to come under scrutiny for his tax affairs, as team-mate Neymar was recently fined almost £40m by a Brazilian court for evading tax on his sponsorship deals, while last year Javier Mascherano received a 12-month prison sentence for tax avoidance but also avoided serving time.