Atletico Madrid striker Diego Costa has been slapped with six months jail sentence after he pleaded guilty to a tax offence amounting to a total of €1.1m

The 31-year-old, who also played for Chelsea between 2014-2017, appeared in court in Madrid on Thursday morning dressed in a white mask.

According to Spanish newspaper, El Mundo, Costa will pay a hefty fine to avoid serving the time.

In compliance with the law in Spain, he has agreed to pay a fine of €507,208 (£453,000) as a punishment for defrauding the state as well as an additional €36,500 (£32,600) to avoid jail time.

The Spanish treasury charged the 31-year-old for defrauding the authorities regarding €1m (£890,000) in image rights.

The tax agency added another fiscal crime to Costa before withdrawing and halving the fine.

Costa has now agreed to pay €36,000 fine to avoid any jail time.

Speaking ahead of his court visit on Thursday, an Atletico spokesman told Reuters: "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with the prosecutor and has already paid the corresponding fine plus interest and the request for a prison sentence was withdrawn.

"This week it is expected that agreement will be ratified in court, as is mandatory."

Mirror