Lionel Messi and father to stand trial on tax avoidance

Twenty two months. That's how long Lionel Messi could spend in prison if convicted of irregularities. The Barcelona striker and his father will stand trial in Spain on three counts of tax fraud after a judge rejected a request to clear the world's most famous footballer.

According to the Daily Express, the father and son are "accused of defrauding Spanish authorities of over €4m (£2.72m)". Lionel and Jorge Messi deny the charges but in court documents made public on Thursday it was revealed that the state attorney's office did not accept Messi's defence that he was not kept informed of his father's "unlawful activities".

"There are rational signs that the criminality was committed by both accused parties," stated the judge.

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No date has been set for the trial, which will take place in Vilanova i la Geltru, 30 miles south of Barcelona.

The Express says that the charges centre on offshore companies established in Belize and Uruguay, which, according to prosecutors, were set up by Messi Snr to avoid paying tax on his son's earnings between 2007 and 2009.

The paper explains that the income "related to Messi's image rights, including contracts with Banco Sabadell, Danone, Adidas, Pepsi-Cola, Procter and Gamble, and the Kuwait Food Company". Messi and his father paid the Spanish tax authorities €5m (£3.7million) to as a “corrective payment” after they were formally charged in June 2013, and sources close to the player said he had expected to avoid a trial as a consequence.

The Daily Telegraph says the the four-time World player of the Year is "unlikely to end up in jail as sentences of less than two years are normally suspended for first time offences in Spain", but nonetheless the case has tarnished what hitherto had been a squeaky-clean reputation.

Named by Forbes magazine as the fourth richest sportsman in the world, the 28-year-old Messi is estimated to earn in the region of £42m a year through his club wages and a series of high-profile endorsements.

The trial is the latest misfortune to befall the Argentine striker. At the end of September Messi sustained a serious knee injury in a Spanish league match against Las Palmas, and he is not expected to be fit again until the second half of November, jeopardising his chances of appearing for Barcelona against Real Madrid inn El Clasico on November 22.