Court swaps Messi jail for fine of £221k
LIONEL Messi has been handed a £221,000 fine instead of 21 months in jail.
The Barcelona and Argentina superstar, 30, and his father Jorge were convicted last year of a £3.6million tax fraud.
A Spanish court said yesterday it had exchanged the prison sentence for fines for both of them.
The father will have to pay a £159,000 fine in place of his 15-month term.
The pair would not have been locked up as firsttime offenders in Spain can serve a jail term under two years on probation.
Messi and Antonella Roccuzzo donated the food and drink left over by the 250 guests at their wedding last Friday, it was revealed yesterday.
It went to a foodbank in his home town, Rosario.