Manchester United star Alexis Sanchez sentenced to 16 months in prison but will avoid jail by paying £890,000 tax — plus interest
Chilean was found guilty of falsifying the sale of his image rights to a foreign company while at Barcelona from 2012 to 2013
ALEXIS SANCHEZ has been sentenced to 16 months in prison — but will not serve any time behind bars as it has been suspended.
The Manchester United forward was found guilty of the defrauding the Spanish government of £890,000 in image rights, while playing for Barcelona between 2012 and 2013.
Sanchez has reached an agreement whereby he will repay the money owed, plus interest, and recognised that he falsified the sale of his image rights to a foreign company in order to avoid paying tax.
The Chilean gave evidence to a Spanish court via a video camera from London while an Arsenal player on January 16, 2017.
He has now accepted his sentence, and has two years to pay the money back, before the suspension is lifted and he will be forced to spend time behind bars.
Sanchez, 29, is the latest in a long line of high-profile players to have been prosecuted by the Spanish court for alleged tax evasion.
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Why are so many La Liga stars facing tax issues?
WHEN David Beckham joined Real Madrid in 2003, he became the pioneer of a new tax-exemption scheme Spain introduced in order to attract top foreign talents across all sectors.
It became known as the "Beckham Law" and the ex-England captain signed up to a six-year-long tax ceiling of 24 per cent — which was around half what was paid at the time on six-figure-plus incomes.
Spain was enjoying an incredible economic boom, and became the perfect place to attract "Galactico" players such as Luis Figo, Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldo.
But the Beckham Law was scrapped in 2010 for annual salaries of over £530,000 (€600,000), and Spanish tax inspectors are now far more aware of complex financial operations involving offshore accounts to get around tax laws.
His former Barcelona team-mate Lionel Messi was given a 21-month suspended sentence in 2016 — before it was changed to a £223,000 fine last year.
Meanwhile, another ex-colleague in Javier Mascherano was given a one-year suspended prison sentence in 2016 and hit with a £610,000 fine.
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Cristiano Ronaldo continues to plead his innocence, having been accused of defrauding the Spanish government of £13million in unpaid tax.
While Luka Modric paid £880,00 to Spanish tax authorities to avoid spending time in jail.