Lionel Messi can sleep a little bit easier tonight. His impending trial for tax fraud against Spanish authorities won't stop him from being Barcelona's poster boy.
After it emerged that Lionel Messi and his father will go to court accused of defrauding the tax authorities of more than €4 million – despite prosecutors pleading for the charges to be dropped – FC Barcelona have issued a statement backing their star man.
The club gave a three-point response to the charges against Messi:
"1.- The Club expresses its surprise at the difference in criteria between the Public Prosecutors, which on September 25 decided not to accuse Lionel Messi of tax fraud, and the verdict expressed today by the State Attorney, which states the complete opposite.
Messi isn't the only Barca player to be targeted by the tax man.
In addition to Messi, Barca stars Neymar and Javier Mascherano are both caught up in similar cases, which has fed into some conspiracy theories that Barcelona are being unfairly targeted.
Defender Javier Mascherano has been chased by Spanish authorities for allegedly defrauding the state of €1.5 million, while Neymar is in trouble with Brazil for supposedly failing to pay a huge €14.1 million.
We shouldn't be surprised that Barcelona want to keep the world's greatest player on their side.
[via FC Barcelona]
