A Spanish court found the 29-year-old Argentina striker and his father Jorge guilty of three counts of tax fraud.
In a statement, the court said their sentences can be appealed through the country's Supreme Court.
However, under Spanish law a prison sentence under two years can be served under probation, meaning Messi and his father are unlikely to go to prison.
The court ordered Messi to pay a fine of around 2 million euros (£1.7million) and his father to pay 1.5 million euros for the crimes.
During the four-day trial last month, Messi and his father denied any wrongdoing. Both said the player was unaware of the tax issues that led to the fraud charges.
But the court agreed with the state prosecutor that Messi and his father did have at least some knowledge of the corporate structures created to lower his tax burden in Spain.
Tax inspectors testified that they found evidence that Messi's father used companies in countries such as Uruguay, Switzerland and Belize to reduce tax on the player's income from image rights. Messi's father said he was told by a legal adviser that the practice was legal.
The sentence can be appealed.
Barcelona issued a statement to ''give all its support to Leo Messi and his father.''
The club said that it ''considers that the player is in no way criminally responsible with regards to the facts underlined in this case. FC Barcelona continues to be at the disposition of Leo Messi and his family to support him in whatever action he decides to take in defense of his honesty and his legal interests,'' it said.
Culled from Daily Mail
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