Spanish Prosecutor Amado Claims Lionel Messi Should Be Cleared Of Tax Evasion Charges

Spanish prosecutor Raquel Amado recommended that Lionel Messi be "cleared of tax evasion while keeping his father an official suspect," according to Rodrigo Orihuela of BLOOMBERG. Amado said, "Messi didn't participate in the decision making of the management and use of his earnings. It was his father who, advised by third parties that reported to him and not to the player, decided on the management and allocation of his son's earnings." Prosecutors filed a complaint in '13 that Messi and his father evaded €4.2M in taxes on endorsement payments. The Spanish government is "pursuing the case" after the Messis paid €5M, "the amount prosecutors say they evaded plus interest" (BLOOMBERG, 6/17). In Madrid, Germán González reported Spain's District Attorney reached a conclusion that "Messi had no involvement in the formalization of the brokerage service contracts." Amado "highlighted that it was Messi's father who controlled the players' image rights" (EL MUNDO, 6/17).