Lionel Messi: Barcelona and Argentina striker and father found guilty of tax fraud and sentenced to 21 months in prison

LIONEL MESSI and his father Jorge have been sentenced to 21 months in prison after being found guilty of tax fraud – but the Barcelona talisman is not expected to serve them in jail time.

The Messis were found to have evaded tax on Lionel’s image rights, owing more than £3.4million in back payments, and the Court of Catalonia has sentenced the pair to just under two years in prison.

The court ordered Messi to pay a fine of around £1.7m and his father to pay £1.15m for the crimes.

However, as the sentence is short of two years, and neither Lionel nor Jorge have a criminal record, they won’t be required to serve any jail time.

Lionel Messi and father at their court hearing last month

Last month, Messi had claimed he was not aware of the tax arrangements set in place by his father and other advisors, but the state attorney, Mario Maza, compared the player to a mafia boss, who has deniability on the illegal goings-on in his name, El Periodico notes.