Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo could face UK travel ban if Britain exits EU without a deal

Football stars Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo could face being banned from entering the United Kingdom if British Prime minister Boris Johnson keeps to his promise of exiting the European Union by October 31 without a deal.

Exiting the EU without a deal, also known as ‘hard Brexit‘, will ensure the UK has strict rules banning people with a criminal conviction from coming to the UK.

If a Hard Brexit occurs, Ronaldo and Messi might have to lawyer up before they can enter the UK because they have been convicted of tax crimes in the past.

Boris Johnson right now is struggling to reach an agreement with his EU counterparts over Britain’s imminent departure from the EU but the new regulations in case a hard Brexit occurs will deny anyone who has been convicted of tax fraud, a visa.

A Hard Brexit will also affect many UEFA Champions League teams, as a lot of players with criminal history will be denied visas. As it stands now Marcelo, Diego Costa and many more could be denied visas for tax evasion crimes.

Andrew Osborne, a lawyer with the firm Lewis Silkin, explained to Spanish Sports paper AS: “If you are an EU citizen and you have been convicted of an offence or have had a prison sentence imposed [including suspended sentences] you will be denied entry to the United Kingdom.”