Barcelona Star Lionel Messi Scheduled to Train with his International Team Mates In Spite of Looming Tax Case
Lionel Messi is without doubt the world's greatest footballer at the moment and will go down in history as perhaps one of the greatest players to have ever played the game, however like all the biggest stars he has also has his own set of off field problems and in his case it is the tax avoidance case that has landed him in the dock with the tax authorities in Spain. However, at the same time, he needs to concentrate on his professional life as the world's top footballer and it has emerged that Messi would have to abandon Argentina's Copa America training camp in order to attend the court proceedings in Barcelona.
Lionel Messi is being investigated for having dodged taxes to the tune of 4.1 million Euros between the years 2007 and 2009, that were related to his image rights. However, it needs to be made clear that Messi has already paid off the back taxes and is now awaiting a judgement on the whole thing on 2nd of June this year. The Copa America would begin on the 6th of June and it is certainly not a good time for the player to be in the middle of a court appearance. However, Messi is desperate to win a major trophy with the national team and would take it in his stride by discontinuing his training at the national team camp in order to be present at his hearing. Messi will join the camp after the league cup final in Spain on the 22nd of May and travel to and fro Barcelona before the start of the tournament.
Argentina coach Gerrard Martina confirmed the same to the media,"Messi will come to train, I am not saying with the group on [May] 23 as the 22 is the Copa del Rey final. But he will be with us the first days of that week when the squad begins to train. Then he will make the journey he must make to declare [in court] and then he will go directly to the U.S. Nobody needs to be worried about this."
