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Football

07th Feb 2018

BREAKING: Alexis Sanchez accepts 16-month prison sentence for tax fraud

James Dawson

Bad news for the Manchester United star.

Manchester United’s January signing Alexis Sanchez has reportedly accepted a 16-month prison sentence, after defrauding the Spanish tax authorities of almost €1 million (£890k).

He recognised  to the court that between 2012 and 2013 he falsifying the sale of his image rights to a foreign company in order to avoid paying tax.

As part of a deal reached with authorities, he has agreed to pay back all of the money he owes, along with interest, to the Spanish treasury.

The 29-year-old was given a 19-month prison suspended sentence, but as he will pay the money back, he will not serve any time in jail.

The news comes after Lionel Messi was convicted of a similar offence last year, he was sentenced to 21 months in jail, although he did not serve any of the sentence either.