Barcelona vice-president Carles Vilarrubi believes the recent change to Lionel Messi's sentence is to set a precedent to prevent Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo from being hit with a similar punishment.
Messi's initial 21-month prison term was recently downgraded to a fine, although the Barcelona star wasn't set to serve any time behind bars. Vilarrubi told RAC1's Jordi Baste (h/t Sport) he feels that is with recent allegations made against Ronaldo in mind.
"I find it difficult to imagine that this would have happened had there not been a similar problem with another player," he said.