Considered as the greatest footballer, Lionel Messi is swimming in troubled waters now!
Messi has been handed jail term for 21 months in Spain for tax evasion. His father, Jorge Messi, has also been caught in this cobweb of tax fraud.
In addition to the jail term, the footballer will also pay a fine of 2 Million euros (Rs 14.9 crore) and his dad will pay a fine of 1.5 million euros (Rs 11.2 crore)
The duo has been suspected of defrauding Spain’s tax authority of 4.1 million Euros between 2007-2009. They had also created tax havens in Belize and Uruguay, thus escaping the tax laws and concealing their earnings.
However, Lionel Messi commented that he didn’t know about this at all and all he did was “play football”.
This is what he told the court:
But, both of them won’t serve time in jail because as per Spanish law, prison term under 2 years can be served under probation.
This means that the talented footballer will serve time in jail if he commits another crime during the next two years.
Twitterati collectively lost their shit and didn’t spare the chance to express their opinion on the same.
We bring to you some of the best ones:
1.
Just ordered the new Lionel Messi Barcelona shirt, can’t wait to try it on. pic.twitter.com/Ny2kAFXB7e
— Ed Snowdon (@LondonSnowman) July 6, 2016
2.
Real Madrid Fans’ Reaction Finding Out Lionel Messi Will Avoid Prison. 😉#LionelMessi pic.twitter.com/h17BskGFcq
— Sir Ravindra Jadeja (@SirJadeja) July 6, 2016
3.
Lionel Messi counting the number of years he dodged from prison?? pic.twitter.com/RSaWh8hGKV
— Football Feast (@FootieFeasts) July 6, 2016
4.
Lionel Messi is so good he can even avoid prison … #UnbelievableJeff
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) July 6, 2016
5.
Suspended sentence for Messi!!! Thanks guys. I’m going to get audited in Spain!!
— Ryan Fitzgerald (@FitzySA) July 6, 2016
6.
after getting 21 months in prison Lionel messi remains professional and practices his diving headers pic.twitter.com/6ErTgOrlK8
— WOT A MORON (@Wotamoron) July 6, 2016
7.
Lionel Messi handed jail term in Spain for tax fraud.
They first just gave him a penalty, but he missed that.— Ramesh Srivats (@rameshsrivats) July 6, 2016
8.
Lionel Messi’s attitude to tax: pic.twitter.com/I46TWAJi6S
— Paddy Power (@paddypower) July 6, 2016
9.
When you hear that Lionel Messi has been sentenced to 21 months in jail for Tax Fraud. pic.twitter.com/SkES7zgSNi
— Not Match of the Day (@NOT_MOTD) July 6, 2016
10.
Lionel Messi is sentenced, but he won’t be jailed. Because, they won’t be able to keep him in jail – he’s too good at getting over walls
— The Bad Doctor (@DOCTORATLARGE) July 6, 2016
Well, it’s hard to believe that Messi really didn’t know what was going on and all he was doing was “playing football”, but at the same time it’s hard seeing your role model facing this law.
What do you think?
Source: BBC