AKIPRESS.COM - Barcelona football star Lionel Messi and his father will appeal against a Spanish court decision to sentence them each to 21 months in jail for tax fraud, the player's lawyers say.

Argentine Messi, aged 29, was also fined $2.2 million by the court in Barcelona, BBC reports.

In addition to the prison term, Messi's father, Jorge, was fined €1.5m for defrauding Spain of €4.1m in 2007-09.

However, neither man is expected to serve time in jail.

Under the Spanish legal system, prison terms of under two years can be served under probation.

The pair also face millions of euros in fines for using tax havens in Belize and Uruguay to conceal earnings from image rights.