Spanish court to hear Lionel Messi's appeal against tax fraud charges on April 20

Barcelona: Spain`s Supreme Court will consider Barcelona talisman Lionel Messi`s appeal against a 21-month prison sentence for tax fraud on April 20, a court spokesperson said on Friday.

That date is three days before the "Clasico" between Barca and Real Madrid which could go a long way to deciding this season`s La Liga title.

Argentine Messi, five-times world player of the year, was found guilty by a Barcelona court last July on three counts of tax fraud between 2007 and 2009, resulting in a suspended 21-month prison sentence and fine of 2 million euros.

Messi`s father Jorge was given the same sentence and ordered to pay a fine of 1.5 million euros.

Spanish law is such that any sentence under two years for a non-violent crime rarely requires a defendant without previous convictions to serve jail time.

Messi, 29, and his father defrauded the Spanish tax office of almost 4.2 million euros from 2007-09 by using a web of shell companies to avoid taxes on income from the player`s image rights.

Messi is top scorer in La Liga this season and has netted more goals than any player in matches between Barcelona and their arch-rivals Real Madrid.

Real lead the Catalans by two points at the top of the league standings and have a game in hand.