The Spanish Supreme Court upheld a 2016 conviction for Argentine football phenom, Lionel Messi and his father, for tax fraud.

The five-time world footballer of the year is accused of defrauding the Spanish government of $4.6 million in taxes, but continued to deny the allegations during the court proceedings by stating "I only worried about playing football."

Both men were originally convicted and fined on three counts of fraud and for using South American tax shelters between 2007 and 2009. The father and son were found to be guilty of using shell companies to evade Spanish income taxes from companies using Lionel Messi's image rights. In the worst and most unlikely scenario for Messi, he could serve 21 months in prison. The elder Messi's sentence was reduced upon payment of some of the owed taxes.

It remains to be seen if Messi and his father will see the inside of jail cells, as prison sentences under two years in Spain can be served under probation. More importantly for footballs fans around the world, is if this will affect Messi's eligibility to play in La Liga and his being able to travel to his home country of Argentina.

This isn't the first financial scandal to rock the world of football, let alone Spanish football. Fellow Argentine, Javier Mascherano also plead guilty to tax fraud in Spain and his one-year prison sentence was suspended. Brazilian superstar Neymar has also been accused of misreporting income from his high-profile transfer to Barcelona in 2013. Former Barcelona club president, Sandro Rosell was also recently arrested on charges on money laundering.

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