Cristiano Ronaldo has been handed a two-year prison sentence in Spain for tax evasion, and yet he is still set to make his Juventus debut in August.
The 33-year-old was given the sentence and a fine of nearly €19 million (£17m) after pleading guilty to the four counts of tax fraud for which he was charged, between 2011 and 2014.
Whilst the Portuguese will be paying the fine he will not be serving any prison time despite the sentence.
Instead the sentence is served under probation meaning Ronaldo won’t be going to prison unless he re-offends during the two-year spell.
The sentence came about after negotiations between Ronaldo, the prosecutor’s office and the state attorney which kept him out of jail, but ensured he paid the hefty fine, which is the full amount of tax he owed plus interest.
READ ALSO Benue Assembly: Impeached Speaker, Ikyange, bags 6 months suspension
This is a similar situation to that which Lionel Messi found himself in two years ago when he was given a 21-month prison sentence for tax fraud.
Messi was never due to serve time, but eventually the prison sentence was reduced to a fine which covered the length of the sentence.
The Argentinian originally paid a voluntary ‘corrective payment’ of €5m (£4.4m) to cover the tax owed, plus a fine of €2m (£1.7m) and a further €252,000 (£223,000)) which equated to €400 per day for his prison sentence.
Ronaldo is now set to make his Juventus debut on the opening day of the Serie A season away to Chievo on Sunday 19 August.
He has not been involved in Juve’s pre-season tour of the US which is ongoing, but it has not been confirmed whether that was due to his tax fraud case or not.
The Portugal captain will make his home debut for the Old Lady tomorrow— against Lazio.