The president of the Spanish football league has expressed his concerns that La Liga could lose Lionel Messi to another country following his tax fraud charge.
Messi was ruled to have defrauded the state of £3.5m in unpaid taxes from revenues generated from image rights between 2007 and 2009.
A 21-month prison sentence was handed to the former Argentina international, but he is not expected to serve any time behind bars and Barcelona have already pledged their support to the superstar forward.
Spanish football chief Javier Tebas claims that he is worried about the five-time Ballon d'Or winner's future in La Liga, however, which could open the door for some of European football's big-name clubs to pounce.
"Of course I fear that [Messi] could leave," he is quoted as saying by the Daily Mail. "But the only thing I can tell him is that from La Liga we believe he isn't guilty and that he should stay in Spanish football. I don't think Leo Messi is a delinquent."
Messi has scored a club-record tally of 453 goals for Barcelona, helping the Catalan giants to four Champions League trophies and eight Spanish league titles.
Daniel Lewis
