Lionel Messi will be prosecuted for tax evasion, a court in Barcelona has ruled.
The ruling was taken against the advice of Spain's public prosecutor. The prosecutor had insisted that, rather like the Steffi Graf tax case, it was Messi's father Jorge who took control of his offspring's tax affairs rather than Messi himself.
The prosecution allege that a number of shell companies were formed for the purpose of evading tax on image rights.
The court of Barcelona, however, have decided that there is enough evidence that Messi would have known about the scheme.
[Guardian]