A court in Spain has decreed that Barcelona star Lionel Messi will stand trial on tax fraud charges. A request from the prosecutors for charges against the striker was rejected by a judge.
This means that both Messi and his father Jorge will stand trial for avoiding paying taxes of more than €4 million.
If convicted, Messi's father faces a €2 million fine, and 18 months in prison; while Spanish tax authories are looking for a 22 month sentence for Lionel Messi.
The allegations are that Messi has avoided paying taxes of €4 million by creating fake companies in Uruguay, Belize, Switzerland, and the UK.
Messi and his father paid €5 million to the tax authories as a 'corrective payment' after they were charged in 2013.
Picture credit: David Maher / SPORTSFILE
