Lionel Messi will face trial in Spain on tax evasion charges, after an appeal was rejected.
The Barcelona superstar will go to court alongside his father, accused of defrauding the Spanish tax agency of €4.1 million (£3.4m) in income tax. Messi's lawyers had made an appeal to give Messi an escape from sitting in the dock, but that was turned down by a Barcelona court.
According to Uruguayan newspaper El Pais, the court believed there is enough evidence to suggest that Lionel Messi used companies in Belize and Uruguay to sell his image rights – therefore circumventing tax obligations in his country of residence.
Last August, Messi's father – Jorge – paid the Spanish tax authorities a payment of €5 million, totalling the €4.1 million of missing tax payments plus interest. Both Lionel Messi and his father say they've always "fulfilled all tax obligations".
The tax scandal has fuelled talk that Messi could leave Spain.
The tax scandal was one of the major fuels behind talk of Lionel Messi being prepared to walk away from Barcelona this summer. Reportedly, Messi feels that he's being used as a scapegoat by Spanish authorities in Madrid – just because he plays for Barca.
This could get messy.
[via The Guardian]
