Lionel Messi loses appeal over 21-month prison sentence
The Supreme Court in Spain has upheld the decision of a Barcelona court that sentenced Barcelona star Lionel Messi and his father, Jorge Horacio Messi, to 21 months in prison over tax fraud. The 29-year-old forward from Argentina was accused of defrauding AU$6.14 million worth of taxes between 2007 and 2009.
Last year, Messi and his father lost a trail on three counts of tax evasion. After being found guilty, they were handed 21-month prisons and respectively ordered to pay AU$2.5 million and AU$2 million in fines. On Wednesday, Jorge's sentence was reduced to 15 months after Messi returned the amount of money defrauded. The 29-year-old Messi and his father defrauded Spain's tax office of approximately AU$6.3 million from 2007 to 2009 by using proxy organisations to avoid taxes on revenue generated from players' image rights.
Lionel Messi, father unlikely to go to prison
Under Spanish law, prison sentences of less than two years, unless there are prior offenses, are typically suspended at the discretion of the Supreme Court. Spanish newspapers have reported that the Messis are unlikely to spend any time in prison.
During Wednesday's court proceedings, Messi insisted that he had little knowledge of his father's financial affairs. "I was dedicated to playing soccer. I trusted my father and the lawyers that we had chosen to deal with our affairs. At no time did I think that they could deceive me," the Argentinian striker said.
According to The Daily Mail, Messi’s father "said he was told by a legal adviser that the practice was legal" and eventually had just prison sentence reduced by 6 months. "Tax inspectors testified during the case that they found evidence that Messi’s father used companies in countries such as Uruguay, Switzerland and Belize to reduce tax on the player’s income from image rights," adds the report.
Lionel Messi, often acknowledged as the finest player of his generation, finished the La Liga season as the top scorer with 37 goals. Real Madrid, after capturing the championship by three points, will now face Juventus in the Champions League final in Cardiff later this month.
