BEIJING, July 29 (Xinhuanet) -- Lionel Messi will face tax fraud charges after a Spanish court Monday rejected public prosecutors' request to drop the charges against the four-time World Footballer of the Year.
The Barcelona forward and his father Jorge Horacio Messi are accused of not paying more than four million euros in tax on earnings from the player's image rights from 2007-2009 through the creation of a web of shell companies in Belize and Uruguay. Both the player and his father have denied any wrongdoing and instead have blamed a former agent of the player.
One of the highest paid athletes in the world, Messi earns just over 40-million dollars a season in salary and bonuses, according to Forbes Magazine, and more than 20 million in endorsements.
(Source: CNTV.cn)
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