Lionel Messi, and his father, Jorge Horacio Messi,found guilty in Barcelona court of three counts of tax fraud and has sentenced them to 21 months in prison

Lionel Messi, and his father, Jorge Horacio Messi,found guilty in Barcelona court of three counts of tax fraud and has sentenced them to 21 months in prison. In a statement, the court also said that the sentence can be appealed through the Spanish supreme court. Under Spanish law, a tax prison sentence under two years can be served under probation, meaning Messi and his father are very unlikely to go to jail

The court has also ordered Messi to pay a fine of about €2 million ($2.2 million), while his father was dealt a €1.5m fine for the tax evasion

In 2013, the Barcelona player was set to avoid facing any charges, as the Spanish revenue service initially accepted that he had no knowledge of any wrongdoing and instead pressed all charges against his father.

FC Barcelona gives all its support to Leo Messi and his father with relation to the sentence for tax evasion handed out by the Provincial Court in Barcelona today," the statement read. "The Club, in agreement with the Government prosecution service, considers that the player, who has corrected his position with the Spanish Tax Office, is in no way criminally responsible with regards to the facts underlined in this case.