Diego Costa: Atletico Madrid forward fined for tax fraud, avoids prison time

Costa joined Chelsea from Atletico in 2014, before returning to the La Liga club in 2017

Atletico Madrid forward Diego Costa has avoided a six-month prison term - but will have to pay a fine of €543,208 (£485,324) for tax fraud.

Costa, 31, pleaded guilty to defrauding the state of more than €1m by not declaring payments of over €5.15m from his 2014 move to Chelsea in the UK.

In addition, he did not declare more than €1m in image rights.

Under Spanish law, he will not serve jail time after agreeing to include an additional €36,500 to his initial fine.

The country's legal system allows sentences under two years for non-violent crimes to be exchanged for a fine.

Costa, who appeared in court wearing a mask due to the Covid-19 pandemic, re-joined Atletico from Chelsea in 2017.

"Diego 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the prosecutor and has already paid the corresponding fine plus interest, and the request for a prison sentence was withdrawn," an Atletico spokesman told the Reuters news agency.

Costa is one of a number of football stars convicted of tax evasion by the Spanish authorities.

In July 2017, Barcelona star Lionel Messi was ordered to pay a fine of €252,000 after being found guilty of defrauding Spain of €4.1m between 2007 and 2009.

And Portugal and Juventus player Cristiano Ronaldo cut a deal with a court in Madrid in January 2019 over tax avoidance charges, accepting an €18.8m fine.

The recent crackdown on high-profile footballers follows the removal of a tax exemption in 2010. Known as the "Beckham law", it had allowed footballers to curb their taxes.