Messi gets 21 months jail for tax fraud, unlikely to serve time

Argentina midfielder Lionel Messi (10) reacts after missing a shot during the shoot out round against Chile in the championship match of the 2016 Copa America Centenario soccer tournament at MetLife Stadium on June 26, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

Messi, who has held Spanish nationality since 2005, and his father already had paid 5 million euros to the tax authorities as a "corrective" measure after formal investigations were opened.

Jorge Horacio Messi said during the trial that he was acting on advice from advisers who told him the practice was legal.

Barcelona football club said in a statement following the ruling that it not consider the player to be in any way criminally responsible.

"FC Barcelona continues to be at the disposal of Leo Messi and his family to support him in whatever action he decides to take in defence of his honesty and his legal interests," the club said.

Messi, who has won eight La Liga titles, four King's Cups and four Champions League crowns with Barcelona, said last month he was quitting international soccer after the Argentine national side, of which he was captain, lost on penalties to Chile in the Copa America tournament.

His estimated income of $350 million in the past decade makes him 10th on Forbes Magazine's list of the world's highest-earning athletes.

The sentence is not the first time Barcelona's players have become tangled in tax evasion scandals.

In January, fellow Barcelona player Javier Mascherano accepted a one-year prison sentence for defrauding authorities of over 1.5 million euros as part of a plea bargain, and also avoided jail time. Like Messi, he also pinned the blame on those who had advised him on his personal finances. ($1 = 0.9034 euros)