Barcelona star Lionel Messi and his father can avoid prison for tax fraud by paying an extra fine, a Spanish court said Friday.

Instead of Messi serving his 21-month sentence, the Argentinian forward will be fined an extra $252,000 euros ($369,778 Cdn).

The Barcelona-based court also ruled that Messi's father, Jorge Horacio Messi, will be fined an extra $180,000 euros ($264,122 Cdn) instead of serving his 15-month sentence.

The ruling was widely expected in Spain, where prison sentences under 24 months for first-time offenders can be waived by a judge.

Last year, a court found Messi and his father each guilty of three counts of defrauding tax authorities of $4.1 million euros ($6.01 million Cdn) from 2007-09. The unpaid taxes were from money made through endorsement deals, not Messi's salary paid by Barcelona.

In that ruling Messi was also fined $2 million euros ($2,935,550 Cdn) and his father $1.5 million euros ($2,201,103 Cdn). Both were originally sentenced to 21 months, but his father's sentence was later reduced to 15 months.