Barcelona: A regional court on Friday decided to substitute the 21-month prison sentence given to FC Barcelona’s star forward Lionel Messi for tax evasion with a fine.
The Barcelona court said it had made its ruling, which imposed a 252,000-euro (Dh1.1 million) fine on the Argentine player, following a recommendation by the prosecution, reports Efe.
Messi had been convicted of three tax crimes with a seven-month prison sentence handed to him for each count.
The decision replaced each of the 630 days of imprisonment with a fine of 400 euros.
The news is unlikely to hit him too hard, however.
That’s because after recently extending his contract with the Catalan club, he is “the best paid player in the world,” Barcelona club president Josep Maria Bartomeu said on Friday.
Barcelona announced on Wednesday that Messi had agreed to extend his contract until 2021, in a deal that will keep the five-time winner of the Ballon D’Or at the club until he is 34.
No financial terms were disclosed but Bartomeu told the Barcelona sports daily Mundo Deportivo: “He is the best player in the world and he is paid like the best in the world and in the history of football.
“He is the best paid sports player, because no one brings as much to his club as Leo Messi.”
Prior to his contract extension, Messi was the third highest paid sportsman in the world with an income of $80 million of which $53 million was in salary and bonuses, according to the ranking published by Forbes magazine in June.
His great rival, Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal, topped the ranking with $93 million, of which $58 million was in salary and bonuses, ahead of American basketball player LeBron James ($86.2 million of which 31.2 million in salary and bonuses).
