IN a sportsman-like spirit, a Spanish court sentenced the football wizard Lionel Messi and his father J H Messi to 21 months prison. The the million-dollar question is - Whether both would be idling their time in a jail or not?

As per various reports, it appears that any sentence which falls below the benchmark of 24 months for the first offence, is suspended from jail time.. The court found the father and the son guilty on three counts on defrauding the tax department for USD 4.6 mn. During the trial the accused tried to smoothly slip out of the issue of paying tax by giving an explanation of not being aware of the existing tax laws. Yet it did not work out in his favour. The case against the two accused dates back to the year 2013 when the state prosecutor opened an investigation in an alleged tax evasion to the tune of USD 4.5 mn.