The attempt of Lionel Messi, perhaps the biggest football star, and his father to escape "shadows" of tax evasion case has failed - the Supreme Court of Spain rejected the Argentine's appeal and sentenced him to 21 months in prison.
Of course, Messi will not actually go to jail - in Spain, for minor crimes that do not exceed a two-year sentence, imprisonment is not required. The Argentine will serve his sentence by paying a fine.
Last July, the Spanish court found Messi and his father guilty of tax evasion. They were accused of using companies in Belize, Britain, Switzerland, and Uruguay to avoid taxes on 4.16 million euros of the football player's income from image rights earned between 2007 and 2009.
In addition to the suspended sentence, Messi will also have to pay a fine of over 2 million euros.
