By Oyinlola Awonuga (The New Diplomat’s Entertainment Fashion and Sports Desk)
Former Chelsea striker Diego Costa has been sentenced to six months in jail for tax offences but will pay a £32,000 fine to avoid going to jail.
Costa, 31, pleaded guilty to an offence which occurred during the season after he left Atletico Madrid to join Chelsea in 2014.
He is also said to have concealed image rights payments of around £890k.
According to reports in Spain, Costa avoided paying £980,000 in tax by not declaring payments of around £4.6million.
The Spanish Tax Agency said Costa defrauded them out of taxes and also charged him with a separate financial offence in the 2013 financial year.
Costa initially denied the claims but reconsidered his original stance and reached an agreement with Spanish authorities which was confirmed in court today (Thursday).
According to Spanish outlet El Mundo Deportivo the Spaniard asked Atletico to pay the fine for him but the club refused.
But they are said to have given him an advance on his wages so he can afford to pay.
An Atletico spokesperson said on Wednesday: “Costa reached an agreement a few months ago with the prosecutor and has already paid the corresponding fine plus interest and the request for a prison sentence was withdrawn.
“This week it is expected that agreement will be ratified in court, as is mandatory.”
Costa’s contract with Atletico expires in 2021 and recent reports suggested he would stay with the LaLiga giants until the end of the deal.
And he also recently took a swipe at his former Blues boss Antonio Conte who he called “suspicious” and said he “wouldn’t last a year at Real Madrid”.
The controversial Spanish international also came under fire for a fake cough joke before lockdown.
