The government suspected that Lionel and his father between 2007 - 2009 used companies overseas, specifically - Belize and Uruguay to market the rights, to use Messi jr images and by so doing avoided paying the tax on such rights.
The player is among the highest paid footballers in the world, his annual salary in Barcelona is €16m while Cristiano Ronaldo's annual salary from Real Madrid is €17.5m. These are just club salaries, there individual endorsements are not included.
Lionel Messi's image rights in question included his contracts with Adidas, Pepsi-Cola, Banco Sabadell, Danone, the Kuwait Food Company, Proctor and Gamble etc. These top players earns over €50m per annum in endorsements alone.
Read: africanfootie.blogspot.com
Last month, the striker's father, Jorge Messi, paid the sum of €5m to the authorities (tax department). The original amount the player owed the Spanish government from the image rights was €4.16m, the rest made up, for the interest accruing to the amount.
The Spanish government still wants to prosecute the player, because they want to make an example of him, to deter others from defrauding the authorities, as the economic crisis and unemployment in the country deepens.
When the news first broke out in June, that the star player has been summoned in a Spanish court by a judge, over an alleged tax fraud, Messi wrote in his Facebook page. ''We have never committed any infringement. We have always fulfilled all our tax obligations."
One of the CEO of the companies Messi endorses their product, Mr Herbert Hainer of Adidas, had previously said that his company, ''will continue to work with Lionel. He's the best football player in the world and we are happy that we have him.''
According to Efe news agency in Spain, if the player is convicted of dodging tax payment, he could face up to 6 years in jail and a huge fine as well. If Messi is convicted and sent to jail, it will be a big blow to the most beautiful game.
The game will lose one of its most colourful, skillful and talented players, that brings joy to the faces of real football fans. What do you think? Please use the comment button to register your view. Thanks.
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