Messi Could Be Jailed For Four Years

Lionel Messi, the Barcelona star
footballer and his father are
accused of scamming $5.3 million
in taxes from Spanish authorities.
Along with his father, Jorge
Horacio Messi, the high income
player is accused of fraudulent tax
returns for 2007, 2008 and 2009.
It's clear this won't
be a simple case. A
judge must accept
the prosecutor's lawsuit before any
charges could be brought.
This is bad press for the World Star
player but centers on companies
and endorsement deals. Tax advisers
can be expected to contend that this
is no more than tax planning, not
unlike aggressive football play.
According to Forbes, Messi earns
$41.3 million per year, making him
the 10th highest-paid athlete in the
world. But not all of it is for actual
play.
He is said to collect $21 million from
endorsement deals, including
Adidas. He makes about $20 million
from Barcelona. Only David Beckham
and Cristiano Ronaldo had higher
earnings from soccer. In a statement
released via his Facebook page,
Messi said:
"We have just known through the
media about the claim filed by the
Spanish tax authorities. We are
surprised about the news, because
we have never committed any
infringement. We have always
fulfilled all our tax obligations,
following the advice of our tax
consultants who will take care of
clarifying this situation."
Messi's contract is understood to pay
€11 million (£8.5 million) a year net.
But the issue is beyond salary.
Barcelona's El Periodico newspaper
says it involves commercial revenues
from the Spanish authorities from
2006 through 2009 by directing the
income to companies in tax havens.
Much remains unclear, but if the
reports are to be believed, the image
and license deals are assigned to
companies domiciled in tax havens.