Messi trial to begin this week

Lionel Messi goes on trial in Barcelona on Tuesday for allegedly defrauding Spain of more than £3 million in unpaid taxes.

After winning a league and cup double with Barcelona, the five-time World Player of the Year and his father will confront in court the accusations that have dogged him since June 2013.

The trial will run until June 2 – the day when Messi is due to testify along with his father.

The court appearance comes just days before he joins his Argentina teammates for the Copa America in the United States.

Messi and his father, Jorge Horacio Messi, are accused of using a chain of fake companies in Belize and Uruguay to avoid paying taxes on £3.2million of Messi’s income earned through the sale of his image rights from 2007-09.

The two have already paid £3.8 million to the tax authorities as a “corrective” measure after they were formally charged in June 2013.

They are charged with three counts of tax fraud. Spanish prosecutors are seeking a jail sentence of 22-and-a half …

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