World’s best footballer Messi tried for tax evasion

Barcelona star Lionel Messi has edged closer to being tried for tax evasion as a his latest appeal was rejected by a Spanish high court.

Messi and his father Jorge, who paid €5 million back to the Spanish tax authorities two years ago as a course of ‘corrective payment’, are accused of defrauding the authorities of more than €4 million.

But now, the court have ruled that the pair shouldn’t be granted impunity just because, as they claim, they didn’t know what was happening with Messi’s finances.

Messi’s defence had argued the player hadn’t spent any time ‘studying or analysing’ the contracts in question. But with these contracts issued before Messi had even made his Barcelona debut at 16, he became the sole administrator of one of the companies when he turned 18.

Last October, a court near Barcelona ruled that the striker should face trial regardless of if he was or not aware of the alleged tax fraud.

Earlier today, the high court in Barcelona said that a decision based on the pair being sentenced for fraud would be left for a court hearing. A similar case happened last year when a Spanish judge ruled out the charges on the grounds that his father was solely responsible for the player’s finances.

The income reportedly is not salary based, but advertising. Contracts including Adidas, Pepsi-Cola and Danone amongst others, have been tax avoided in Spain, having used companies in Uruguay to sell the strikers image rights.