A Barcelona court on Wednesday has rejected star footballer Lionel Messi's appeal against allegations of tax evasion and he is now due to stand trial, according to reports.
The Argentinian forward and his father and agent, Jorge Messi, are accused of defrauding the authorities of more than 4 million euros.
It is alleged that they withheld the money between 2007 and 2009.
The income is related to Messi's image rights, including contracts with Banco Sabadell, Danone, Adidas, Pepsi-Cola, Procter and Gamble, and the Kuwait Food Company.
The footballer and his father are suspected of avoiding paying Spanish tax by using companies in Belize and Uruguay to sell the rights to use Messi's image.
A Spanish court in October, 2014 ruled that Messi would have to face trial over the allegations, despite his pleas that he was neither guilty nor fully aware of the wrongdoing.
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