Spanish authorities have cleared Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi of any wrongdoing in an on-going tax investigation, but his father Jorge Messi is still under the scanner on fraud charges.
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Both are unlikely to end up in jail however, as sentences of less than two years are normally suspended for first time offences in Spain.
“It is not plausible to think that his unawareness of events was intentional, or carried out seeking to defraud the Public Treasury”, the prosecutor’s ruling explained.
Spanish sports daily AS and news agency Reuters report that prosecutors will push for the full 22-month sentence for the pair when the trial is held at the Vilanova i la Geltru district in Barcelona.
Messi’s management company initially resisted the decision and argued that his defence will “prove that the prosecutor’s position in not accusing Lionel Messi is correct”.
Messi and his father had earlier made voluntary “corrective payment” of €5 million in taxes to the Spain tax office in August 2013.
Messi has been ordered to appear in court on charges of tax fraud along with his father Jorge, who handles his finances.
But a court document published on Thursday showed the judge in the case had ruled that the FC Barcelona player must still appear as a defendant.
“2. FC Barcelona has expressed its affection and solidarity to Leo Messi and his family in such a peculiar situation”.
However, the court overseeing the case already rejected Lionel’s appeal a year ago, ruling that he may be liable for approving the creation of a web of shell companies that were allegedly used to evade tax due from his image rights.
Messi’s older brother Matias, 32, was briefly detained in Argentina on Sunday after he was found with a revolver in the glove compartment of his auto.
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Messi, who earned $64.7 million in 2014, is the world’s fourth-highest paid athlete, according to Forbes magazine.
