Diego Costa suffers an embarrassing moment as he almost serves a six-month prison sentence for tax evasion.
The 31-year-old Atletico Madrid forward avoided the sentence but will have to pay a fine of €543,208.
He pleaded guilty to for not declaring payments of over €5.15 million during his 2014 transfer from Atletico to Chelsea. He also found guilty of not declaring more than €1 million in image rights.
Under Spanish law, sentences under two years for non-violent crimes can be exchanged with additional fine.
Thus, Costa does not need to be in prison after agreeing to include an additional €36,500 to his initial fine.
“Diego Costa reached an agreement a few months ago with the prosecutor and has already paid the corresponding fine plus interest, and the request for a prison sentence was withdrawn,” an Atletico spokesman told the Reuters news agency.
Costa is the latest football stars convicted of tax evasion by the Spanish authorities.
Both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have also found guilty of tax evasion in the past.
In July 2017, Messi was ordered to pay a fine of €252,000 after failed to declare €4.1 million between 2007 and 2009.
Ronaldo agreed to pay €18.8m fine at Madrid court in January 2019 for tax evasion, few months after joining Juventus from Real Madrid.