Lionel Messi will not have to stand trial on tax fraud charges, but it’s not all rosy for the Barcelona star.
Messi’s father Jorge could face 18 months behind bars and a fine of up to €2m for alleged irregularities concerning the player’s image rights, after prosecutors alleged that he was the man in control of Lionel’s taxes.
But charges have been dropped against the 28-year-old, who is currently recuperating from a knee injury.
Sport reports that the prosecutors in Barcelona have issued a statement explaining: ‘It has not been proven that [Messi’s] lack of knowledge was deliberate or was done with the aim of defrauding the Treasury’.
Messi is not the only Barcelona player to have been the subject of a tax fraud investigation this year, with Neymar and Javier Mascherano facing similar allegations.
