Barcelona's Mascherano on trial for tax evasion

Barcelona footballer Javier Mascherano, facing trial in a local court, has been found guilty of tax-evasion for a second time and awaits sentencing.

In an earlier case, Argentine Mascherano was sentenced to one-year imprisonment and a fine of 815,000 euros. He was believed to be involved in two cases of tax evasion between 2011 and 2012 which he admitted in the first trial. He also paid back the tax money of 1.5 million euros and a fine of 200,000 euros, reports Xinhua.

Mascherano's lawyer David Aineto tried to avoid his client's imprisonment with a fine of 21,000 euros and the prosecutors seemed to be "positive" about the proposal, Diario Sport reported.

The court on Thursday said it will announce the new sentence shortly.

"I am a professional football player. I am not familiar with the law of taxation. It is too complicated for me," Mascherano tweeted. "I have been an honest man in my entire career. I am a trustworthy person to my teammates, my club and my country."