Lionel Messi and his father, who is his manager, are to face tax fraud charges and Spanish prosecutors are calling for a 22-month jail term. They deny any wrongdoing and blame a former agent of the player. Of course, even if they were found gullty, this would not necessarily be the sentence that was handed down.
Lionel Messi and his father, who is his manager, are to face tax fraud charges and Spanish prosecutors are calling for a 22-month jail term. They deny any wrongdoing and blame a former agent of the player. Of course, even if they were found gullty, this would not necessarily be the sentence that was handed down.
Even if it was, sentences of less than two years are usually suspended under Spanish law, meaning that Messi would not miss any playing time.
At the centre of the case are the player’s image rights which have become an increasingly important source of income for world class footballers. Companies were set up in Uruguay and Belize to handle these earnings.
Messi and his father did make a voluntary payment of $3.75m to the tax authorities in 2013.