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Barcelona number 10 and Argentina’s captain Lionel Messi looks set to face a trial over claims that he allegedly evaded paying tax.
The judge’s ruling in Spain dismissed the prosecution’s argument that the charges should be dropped as the player’s father was responsible for his finances.
Messi and his father have been accused of having failed to pay taxes of more than 4 million euros (£3.1 million; $5 million). Naturally, the player and his father have denied any wrongdoing, and have 5 days to appeal against the verdict.
The timeframe under the scanner here is between 2007 and 2009, and includes income related to Messi's image rights, which consists of contracts with Banco Sabadell, Danone, Adidas, Pepsi-Cola, Proctor and Gamble, and the Kuwait Food Company.
This was the judge’s ruling – "In this type of crime, it is not necessary for someone to have complete knowledge of all the accounting and business operations nor the exact quantity, rather it is sufficient to be aware of the designs to commit fraud and consent to them."
