A Barcelona court has found Barcelona forward Lionel Messi, and his father, Jorge Horacio Messi, guilty of three counts of tax fraud and has sentenced them to 21 months in prison -- although neither are likely to serve any jail time.
In a statement, the court also said that the sentence can be appealed through the Spanish supreme court. 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 has also ordered Messi to pay a fine of about €2 million while his father was dealt a €1.