Messi misses first day of tax fraud trial

Barcelona, may 31 

The trial of Lionel Messi on charges of tax evasion opened in Barcelona on Tuesday, but injury prevented soccer’s five-times World Player of the Year from attending. The Barcelona star will be in court on Thursday to testify.

Messi and his father, Jorge Horacio Messi, are accused by the Spanish tax office of defrauding the government of $4.7 million between 2007 and 2009. They could face jail terms of up to 22 months if found guilty. Both have denied the allegations and missed Tuesday’s hearing, which lasted over an hour. The 28-year-old player and his father are not obliged to attend the court every day, but they will have to testify on Thursday.

“The intention of Mr. Lionel was to attend the plenary hearing, but he has suffered an injury,” Messi’s lawyer, Javier Sanchez-Vera, said in court. He presented a medical report.

The Barcelona forward hurt his back during Argentina’s international friendly against Honduras last Friday. Asked by the judge whether Messi would attend Thursday’s hearing, the lawyer said he would.

The case centres on the player’s image rights and a web of shell companies allegedly used to evade taxes on income from those rights. — Reuters