Spanish law states that the 29-year-old will not have to spend any time in jail and he has agreed to pay the money he owes with interest.
Alexis Sanchez
Alexis Sanchez has accepted a 16-month
prison sentence for committing tax fraud during his time at Barcelona, although
he will not spend time in jail.
The Manchester United forward was
accused of defrauding the treasury of €1 million between 2012 and 2013,
relating to income from his image rights.
Sanchez has, however, reached an
agreement with the prosecutor to pay the money he owes with interest.
Despite the verdict, the Chilean will
not spend time in prison as he is a first offender and the sentence is less
than two years - which crucially, in Spanish law, prohibits jail time.
The ex-Arsenal star is the latest
football figure to be punished by Spanish prosecutors for an apparent dodging
of taxes.
Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Jose
Mourinho and Ricardo Carvalho have all been pursued by the authorities
recently.
Barcelona star Messi was handed a
21-month jail term in 2016, but managed to exchange it for a €250,000 fine last
year, while Mourinho paid to settle his and Carvalho was given a fine and a
seven-month sentence.
Real Madrid forward Ronaldo,
meanwhile, was accused of owing €14.7m but has protested his innocence in an
ongoing case.
Alexis joined Barcelona from
Udinese in 2011 and spent three years with the Catalan side, winning a Liga
title as well as the Club World Cup under the guidance of Pep Guardiola.
He left to join Arsenal in 2014 and
starred for Arsene Wenger's team until making the shock move to Old Trafford in
January in a swap deal for Henrikh Mkhitaryan, despite it having appeared he
would be joining Manchester City.
The 29-year-old has made three
appearances for Mourinho's side so far, scoring his first goal for his new club
in Saturday's 2-0 win over Huddersfield Town.
The Red Devils are currently 13
points behind leaders City after 26 matches and return to action on Sunday when
they visit Newcastle United.
When News Breaks Out, We Break In. (The 2014 Bloggies Finalist)
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