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Four-time world player of the year Lionel Messi would soon face trial for alleged tax evasion; a Spanish judge has ruled and might face a six year jail term if convicted.
According to the BBC, Spain's public prosecutor argued in June that Messi's father Jorge was responsible for the family's finances and not the Barcelona star.
Messi and his father are accused of defrauding the authorities of more than four million euros. The pair has five days to appeal against the ruling.
A court in Barcelona decided, however, Lionel Messi could have known about and approved the creation of a web of shell companies that were allegedly used to evade taxes due on income from image rights.
Messi and his father are suspected of avoiding Spanish tax by using a complex web of companies in Uruguay, Belize, Switzerland and the United Kingdom to sell rights to use the footballer's image. Messi may face six year jail term if convicted of alleged tax evasion.
He has been resident in Barcelona since joining the club's academy in 2000 and gained Spanish citizenship five years later.
Messi is one of the world's highest-paid athletes and earns just over $20 million a season in wages and bonuses, according to Forbes magazine.
He also pulls in about $21 million in endorsements from sponsors including Adidas, PepsiCo and P&G and is 10th on Forbes' latest list of top-earning athletes.