Barcelona footballer Lionel Messi has appeared before a
Spanish judge as part of a tax fraud investigation.
The 26-year-old Argentine, four times Fifa World Player of
the Year, and his father Jorge Messi are accused of defrauding the authorities
of more than 4m euros ($5.4m; £3.4m).
The two men were questioned separately at the court in Gava,
near Barcelona.
Both father and son deny the allegations. The Messis' lawyer
said he wanted to resolve the matter.
The footballer and his father are suspected of using
companies abroad - in Belize and Uruguay - to sell the rights to use Lionel
Messi's image, thereby circumventing tax obligations in Spain. The allegations
date back to 2007-9.
The income related to Messi's image rights included
contracts with Banco Sabadell, Danone, Adidas, Pepsi-Cola, Proctor and Gamble,
and the Kuwait Food Company.
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