Messi faces 22 months in jail as judge rules he must face trial for tax fraud

Lionel Messi will stand trial in Spain on three counts of tax fraud and could be sentenced to nearly two years in prison if found guilty. The four-time world player of the year failed to persuade a judge on Thursday to clear him of any wrongdoing. Instead, the Barcelona player’s father, Jorge Horacio Messi, widely said to have control of his son’s affairs, was also charged with tax fraud. Prosecutors had said Messi was not fully aware of his father’s unlawful activities and should not have been charged but the state attorney’s office contended that the Argentina forward knew enough to also be named in the case.

Barcelona has expressed its affection and solidarity to Leo Messi and his family in such a peculiar situation. The club shall continue to offer him and his family its full support and assistance in the legal, fiscal and administrative aspects of these proceedings

Barcelona statement

The footballer and his father are accused of defrauding Spain’s tax office of 4.1 million euros ($4.6 million) in unpaid taxes from 2007-09. It was thought Messi, 28, would evade trial after prosecutors said they’d drop the charges. But now the attorney’s office has called for a prison sentence of 22 months and 15 days for Messi and his father, along with a fine in the amount defrauded, payment of all legal proceedings and the loss of any possible tax benefits for a year-and-a-half. Messi reportedly told authorities he would “sign anything with his eyes closed” if his father told him to do it. No trial date has been set.

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