10 - Lionel Messi - v2

[Theconomist]

What I found odd about this whole thing is the alleged tax evasion took place between 2007 and 2009. What made them stop in 2009? And what took the Spanish tax authorities so long to uncover it?

I smell conspiracy in the air.

First part is moot; a fraud can end at any time for different reasons.
2nd part; financial investigations are very complicated, 4 years is actually a rather short time for this sort of thing to surface.

 

[suckabov]

From http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/afp/130612/football-messi-father-deny-tax-crime-allegation#1

"It is all a mistake, you have to speak about this to the tax experts and lawyers who need to clear it up," the player's father told Spanish sports daily AS."I don't understand what is going on. I don't manage these matters, I am resident in Argentina," he said.The father said he had not spoken to his son about the reports. "I don't need to since it is a mistake. Why would I shock him?"

Don't know what to make of this, but if the accusations are true, (and if they are, he should expect it to come out) wouldn't it be rather stupid of him to deny it to the public? I mean PR-wise

Edit: Apparently his lawyers denied any wrongdoings, said they would take legal steps against the prosecuter and had only heard of this through the media. Read this on several Facebook pages, dunno if true.

 

[Bilal Khan]

time to make shawshank redemption 2

 

[darthvader7888]

I doubt the accusation is true, but I think the accusation alone will damage Messi's image and hurt his chance of winning the Ballon d'or.

 

[BigBarcaBoy]

I doubt the accusation is true, but I think the accusation alone will damage Messi's image and hurt his chance of winning the Ballon d'or.

I really think that it won't have a major affect on his image, just blame the accountants and move on !arty1:

 

[jiopi]

Romerito - "There's always the talk about the World Cup, but for me, Messi is already better than Maradona."

 

[Faceless]

Lies... All lies! Lord Messi will prevail out of this.

 

[Jelboo]

So, guys, in all seriousness, how worried do I have to be about this? Just because we like the guy doesn't mean there might be some truth to this. I feel a bit uncomfortable. :/

 

[suckabov]

New evidence is leading to the Messis' former agent, whom they fired and sued in 2006 for embezzling money. Apparently he was in charge for the Messis' finances.
Now this makes more sense. Would be surprising if a 'simple' guy like Messi's father could come up with such a mastermind plan.

I doubt the accusation is true, but I think the accusation alone will damage Messi's image and hurt his chance of winning the Ballon d'or.

I think you needn't worry. The voting journalists should be educated enough to not judge someone based on false accusations or to let their assessment of the player Messi be influenced by his image. And the coaches and team captains probably don't give a damn about Messi's personal life (given that some of them have other scandals in their lives and also might be familiar with tax saving tactics... Just look at people like Beckenbauer, who evaded taxes in the 80s).
Apart from that, the argument that Messi is only winning the Ballon d'ors because he has a good image (better than for example Ronaldo) is just messi hater talk and not to be believed.

 

[darthvader7888]

New evidence is leading to the Messis' former agent, whom they fired and sued in 2006 for embezzling money. Apparently he was in charge for the Messis' finances.
Now this makes more sense. Would be surprising if a 'simple' guy like Messi's father could come up with such a mastermind plan.



I think you needn't worry. The voting journalists should be educated enough to not judge someone based on false accusations or to let their assessment of the player Messi be influenced by his image. And the coaches and team captains probably don't give a damn about Messi's personal life (given that some of them have other scandals in their lives and also might be familiar with tax saving tactics... Just look at people like Beckenbauer, who evaded taxes in the 80s).
Apart from that, the argument that Messi is only winning the Ballon d'ors because he has a good image (better than for example Ronaldo) is just messi hater talk and not to be believed.

Of course. Just saying that a bad image can hurt his chances, but I (like anyone who's not a Messi hater/Ronaldo fanboy) know that Messi won his Ballon d'ors because he was the best player, not because of his image or anything like that.

 

[Beast]

New evidence is leading to the Messis' former agent, whom they fired and sued in 2006 for embezzling money. Apparently he was in charge for the Messis' finances.
Now this makes more sense. Would be surprising if a 'simple' guy like Messi's father could come up with such a mastermind plan.



I think you needn't worry. The voting journalists should be educated enough to not judge someone based on false accusations or to let their assessment of the player Messi be influenced by his image. And the coaches and team captains probably don't give a damn about Messi's personal life (given that some of them have other scandals in their lives and also might be familiar with tax saving tactics... Just look at people like Beckenbauer, who evaded taxes in the 80s).
Apart from that, the argument that Messi is only winning the Ballon d'ors because he has a good image (better than for example Ronaldo) is just messi hater talk and not to be believed.

But the tax case is for the period of 2006-2009 so how can he be blamed ?

 

[CatalinR10]

GUA agreed with ARG they will pay them 1.1M if Messi doesn't take part in Friday's friendly, and 1.5M if he does play. [sport]

 

[Andrew M]

New evidence is leading to the Messis' former agent, whom they fired and sued in 2006 for embezzling money. Apparently he was in charge for the Messis' finances.
Now this makes more sense. Would be surprising if a 'simple' guy like Messi's father could come up with such a mastermind plan.



I think you needn't worry. The voting journalists should be educated enough to not judge someone based on false accusations or to let their assessment of the player Messi be influenced by his image. And the coaches and team captains probably don't give a damn about Messi's personal life (given that some of them have other scandals in their lives and also might be familiar with tax saving tactics... Just look at people like Beckenbauer, who evaded taxes in the 80s).
Apart from that, the argument that Messi is only winning the Ballon d'ors because he has a good image (better than for example Ronaldo) is just messi hater talk and not to be believed.

That was the old system, before FIFA bought it out. Now team captains and coaches or whoever get to vote, from all small countries too, so it is more of a popularity contest.

 

[suckabov]

GUA agreed with ARG they will pay them 1.1M if Messi doesn't take part in Friday's friendly, and 1.5M if he does play. [sport]

I read that Messi wants to share the 0.5 million with his team mates. Strange to think that someone that generous would evade taxes.

That was the old system, before FIFA bought it out. Now team captains and coaches or whoever get to vote, from all small countries too, so it is more of a popularity contest.

No, that is incorrect. Each Fifa nation has 3 votes, one from a journalist, one from the nt team captain, one from the nt coach. You can look that up on the Fifa homepage, there is also a list of last year's voters.
The journalist group was the one that most (5 point) votes for Messi came from last year (in comparison).

But the tax case is for the period of 2006-2009 so how can he be blamed ?

He apparently set up the fake companies with J. Messi before 2006, which is where the image and advertisement money allegedly went to.

 

[darthvader7888]

Pele: "For his quality, Neymar deserved to play at the best team in the world, alongside the best player in the world, Messi." [sport]

I thought he hated Messi