The Barcelona man is being linked with tax fraud.
Reports from Time claim that FC Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi could face up to six years in prison due to over £3m that the Argentine allegedly owes the Spanish government in unpaid taxes.
If the 27-year-old were sent to jail he would not be the first footballer to have suffered that fate. Here are 10 others:
10. Joey Barton
During his career the current QPR midfielder has had many run-ins with disciplinary committees and the law and has twice been convicted of violent assault.
The first occasion was in 2008 when he drove his car into a pedestrian in Liverpool city centre, earning 77 days behind bars, before being given a four-month suspended sentence that same year for causing actual bodily harm to then Manchester City teammate Ousmane Dabo.
9. Duncan Ferguson
The well known “hard-man” and Everton legend had many problems off the pitch, which included four assault charges – although none of them resulted in the Scot serving time.
That actual came about for something that happened whilst playing for Rangers, when Ferguson headbutted Raith Rovers defender John McStay.
8. Jan Molby
Back when Liverpool were winning league titles and dominating Europe, Molby missed three months of the 1988/89 season because he was in prison.
The Reds stood by their man though, who was punished for crashing his car outside of a Liverpool nightclub whilst drunk.
7. George Best
As talented as the Manchester United legend was on the pitch, he also had a whole host of problems off it which largely revolved around his alcoholism.
In 1984 things spiraled out of control when Best was sentenced after being caught drunk driving, assaulting a police officer and failing to answer bail and served three months as a result.
6. Peter Swan
This goalkeeper could have been considered one of Sheffield Wednesday’s greatest ever players, but tarnished all that upon being found to have been involved in match-fixing during a league match with Ipswich Town in 1962.
Swan and a number of teammates were part of a gambling ring that bet on Ipswich to win – which they did 2-0 – and was slapped with an eight-year ban from playing by the FA and four months in jail.
5. Tony Adams
The former Arsenal captain also had issues with drinking and in 1990 things caught up with him when he crashed his car into a wall near his house and was found to be 27 times over the limit.
Adams was sentenced to four months in prison and during the mid-1990s addressed his alcoholism.
4. Rene Higuita
The goalkeeper who was famous for the scorpion kick save, in 1993 found himself involved in a whole lot more shadier environment.
Higuita was imprisoned for seven months after being found to be involved in the kidnapping of Colombian drub baron Pablo Escobar.
3. Peter Storey
Having won the double with the Gunners in 1971 Storey was considered among the finest players to don the shirt at Highbury.
Yet in 1980 he was sentenced to three years behind bars after financing a scam to forge gold coins, before serving 28 days in 1990 for importing pornographic videos.
2. Lee Hughes
In 2004 the then West Bromwich Albion striker earned himself six years in prison after crashing his Mercedes into another car and killing the passenger.
To make matters worse Hughes fled the scene before handing himself into police the following day and was later convicted of death by dangerous driving.
1. Nizar Trabelsi
Although Trabelsi spent one season with German side Fortuna Dusseldorf – playing once and scoring once – it is not as a footballer that he is known.
Shortly after that sole appearance he was arrested for suspected connections with Al-Qa’ida and found guilty of being part of a planned attack on American soldiers on a Belgian airbase.
In 2003 Trabelsi was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
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