Lionel Messi faces 21 month jail term or fine

Prosecutors in Barcelona say they are not against replacing football star Lionel Messi’s 21-month jail sentence for tax fraud with a fine.

They said they were willing to give the 29-year-old a fine of €400 ($450) a day for the duration of the sentence — an option that the defence of the Argentina international has also proposed.

That would amount to more than €250,000, although the court has the final decision over whether to go ahead with this option.

The daily fine would come on top of the €2.09 million fine Messi was also given when he and his father Jorge Horacio Messi were found guilty of tax fraud in a trial last year and sentenced to 21 months in jail.

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peter odutola