Diego Costa, a former striker for Spanish club Atlético Madrid, has been handed a six-month prison sentence for tax fraud.
The 31-year-old, who joined Atletico Madrid from Chelsea in 2017 was also fined €543,208 (£485,324) having pleaded guilty to defrauding the state of more than €1m (£813,000) by not declaring payments of more than €5.15m (£4.19m) from his 2014 transfer from Atletico to Chelsea in the UK.
However, despite the sentence, Costa will not serve time behind bars as Spain’s legal system allows sentences under two years for non-violent crimes to be exchanged for a fine.
Costa appeared in court wearing a white mask in the Spanish capital on Thursday and has agreed to pay an additional fine of €36,500 on top of his initial punishment to avoid jail time.
