After a court in Spain on Wednesday sentenced Barcelona striker Lionel Messi and his father to 21 months in jail for tax fraud, the footballer vowed to appeal the sentence and clear his name.
The prison sentences are likely to be suspended as is common in Spain for first offences for non-violent crimes carrying a sentence of less than two years.
The Argentines lawyers feel an appeal would eventually succeed in persuading the court that Messi and his father have behaved correctly, the players representatives told AFP in a statement.
The Barcelona court found the Argentina international and his father Jorge Horacio Messi guilty of using companies in Belize, Britain, Switzerland and Uruguay to avoid paying taxes on 4.16 million euros of Messis income earned from his image rights from 2007-09.
The income related to Messis image rights that was allegedly hidden includes endorsement deals with Danone, Adidas, Pepsi-Cola, Procter & Gamble and the Kuwait Food Company.
The court found Messi and his father, who has managed his sons affars since he was a child, guilty of tax fraud and ruled that for each of those three years they should serve a sentence of seven months.
Messi, 29, a five-time world player of the year winner, was also fined 2.09 million euros while his father was fined 1.6 million euros.
They can appeal the decision to Spains Supreme Court and that is what the pairs lawyers indicated on Wednesday they would, saying they felt confident an appeal would succeed.
Messi told the court during the four-day trial that wrapped up on June 4 that he trusted his father with his finances and knew nothing about how his wealth was managed.
Prosecutors had asked for Messi to be absolved, arguing there was no evidence that the player was aware of how his income was managed.
The state attorney representing tax authorities in the trial, Mario Maza, said he found it unlikely that Messi knew nothing about the situation.
There is no deliberate ignorance here, its fraud and thats all there is to it, because he didnt want to pay his taxes, he said.
Its like a crime boss. At the very top is the bigwig who doesnt want to know about the details.
The court agreed, arguing in its ruling that Messi had decided to remain in ignorance.
Despite all the opportunities available to the player to show interest in how his rights were managed, he did not, the court added.
The court said if the player was not punished, ordinary citizens could conclude that it was better to not show interest in their tax obligations.
Messis tax fraud trial has taken place against a backdrop of simmering voter anger over steep cuts to health and social spending, as the government struggles to bring Spains public deficit down.
Barca stands by player
The player and his father made a voluntary payment of 5.0 million euros equal to the amount of the alleged unpaid taxes plus interest in August 2013 after being formally investigated.
After the court delivered its verdict, Barcelona issued a statement giving all its support to Leo Messi and his father.
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, it added.
Messi is Barcelonas all-time leading goalscorer.
His verdict comes just six months after a Spanish court handed Barcelonas Argentine midfielder Javier Mascherano a one-year suspended sentence for tax fraud.
He was found guilty of avoiding paying taxes on 1.5 million euros of income related to his image rights
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