Barcelona: Famous soccer player Lionel Messi has been
sentenced by a Spanish court on Wednesday to 21 months of imprisonment for
charges over tax fraud.
Reports are that Lionel, along with his gather Jorge Messi,
was found guilty of using shell companies in Belize, Britain, Switzerland and
Uruguay to avoid paying taxes on 4.16 million Euros of the footballer’s income
earned from his image rights from 2007-09.
Reports are that the five-time world player of the year
winner can appeal the court sentence against him. However, prison sentence is
likely to suspend for Messi as non-violent crimes carrying less than two-years
of punishment in Spain gets suspended. The international soccer player was
associated with companies like Danone, Adidas, Pepsi-Cola, Procter & Gamble
and the Kuwait Food Company and had hidden his endorsement deals.
The 29-year-old footballer was fined 2.09 million Euros
while his father was fined 1.6 million Euros.
Following the sentences, Messi said that he only followed
advices of his financial advisor and his family. “All I knew was that we signed
agreements with certain sponsors, for X amount of money and that I had to do
advertisements, photos and those things. But about the money and where it went
I knew nothing,” he added.
During the court session, Jorge Messi and two financial advisors
agreed that the player never used to manage his wealth.
Messi is a five-time recipient of the prestigious Ballon
d’Or. However, the player’s salary is not public but the Forbes magazine has
listed him in the 10th position of highest-paid athletes over the past decade,
with an estimated income of $350 million.
Messi became a Spanish citizen in 2005.
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