Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi has been sentenced to 21 months in jail and fined £1.7million over tax charges.

A Spanish court found the 29-year-old Argentina striker and his father Jorge guilty of three counts of tax fraud.

In a statement, the court said their sentences can be appealed through the country's Supreme Court.

The court ordered Messi to pay a fine of around 2 million euros (£1.7million) and his father to pay 1.5 million euros for the crimes.

The long-running case relates to a scheme to avoid paying £3.4m of tax on Lionel Messi's image rights.

Last month, Messi  denied having any knowledge of tax issues that sparked fraud charges against him as he gave evidence in court.