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Lionel Messi sentenced to 21 months in prison
Published 12:04 6 Jul 2016 BST
Updated 14:01 6 Jul 2016 BST
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Lionel Messi has been sentenced to 21 months in prison, according to reports in Spain. The Barcelona star has been convicted of three counts of tax fraud along with his father Jorge and both have been handed jail terms as well as large fines. Because the sentence is less than two years and neither Lionel or his father have prior convictions under Spanish law they have the option to pay a fine rather than serve jail time. So it is highly unlikely that Messi will ever see the inside of a jail cell, but if the conviction holds it is hugely damaging for the brand of the arguably the greatest player of all time. They are judged to have defrauded the Spanish government of €4.1 million in tax returns between 2007 and 2009. Messi himself claims that he trusted others with his financial affairs and "knew nothing" of any tax fraud. Wednesday's ruling can be appealed to the Spanish supreme court.Explore more on these topics:
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