By Andrew Warshaw
June 20 – Lionel Messi, the world’s finest footballer and one of the richest and most iconic sportsmen on the planet, has been sensationally summoned to appear in court on September 17 over tax fraud allegations.
The 25-year-old Argentine and Barcelona forward, four times World Player of the Year, and his father are accused of defrauding the Spanish authorities of more than €4 million in a case that could seriously jeopardise the reputation of the most gifted player of his generation and arguably the best ever.
Messi and his father are claimed to have deceived the state by using companies based in tax havens such as Belize and Uruguay to sell the rights to use his image so that they would pay no tax in Spain, according to the prosecutor’s complaint.
The complaint relates to the three tax periods of 2007, 2008 and 2009. Messi’s net income from image rights amounted to €2.56 millionin 2007, €3.82 million in 2008 and €3.80 million in 2009, the complaint said.
Father and son both fiercely deny the allegations. “We have always fulfilled all our tax obligations, following the advice of our tax consultants who will take care of clarifying this situation,” Messi said in an English-language statement released on his Facebook account the day prosecutors filed their complaint. “We have never committed any infringement.”
Messi was ranked 10th among Forbes’ list of sports stars’ incomes this month. His net salary from Barcelona is reported to be about €16 million a year. In addition, he has a number of multi-million dollar contracts with leading commercial sponsors around the world.
The income related to Messi’s image rights include endorsements with a string of established global brands and, if convicted, he could face up to four years in prison, according to Spanish law.
Messi’s achievements have made him one of the most sought-after and recognisable figures in world sport, his face appearing in a stream of TV adverts and adorning all manner of other publicity material.
Barcelona president Sandro Rosell is fully behind his most revered asset who is due to play a prominent role in the Adidas World Cup marketing campaign.
Adidas CEO Herbert Hainer told reporters that the company “will continue to work with Lionel. He’s the best football player in the world and we are happy that we have him.”
But the allegations represent a serious blow to the reputation of Messi, who has long been seen as a more humble and grounded figure than many less high-profile players, and performs a lot of charity work.
The complaint lodged with the court in Gava, near Barcelona, accused the Messis of defrauding the state of €1.06 million in 2007, €1.57 million in 2008, and €1.53 million in 2009. The father was accused of being the brains behind the scheme, allegedly setting it up in 2005 before his son turned 18.
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