Barcelona star Lionel Messi told he will avoid jail for alleged tax fraud if he pays fine of up to £20 million

Lionel Messi could avoid prosecution and a possible jail sentence over tax fraud allegations if he strikes a deal with Spain’s tax office and pays a fine of up to €24 million (£20m), judicial sources have said.

The Barcelona star, voted Fifa's World Player of the Year for the last four years running, and his father Jorge Horaco Messi are jointly accused of filing fraudulent tax returns during 2007 to 2009.

A judge must now decide whether to accept a complaint lodged by a public prosecutor on Wednesday in Gava, a seaside town near Barcelona where the Argentine footballer has a home.

The pair are accused of using a complex network of companies in Britian, Switzerland and tax havens of Uruguay and Belize to hide income relating to image rights.

The alleged fraud amounts to €4.1m and was said to have commenced before Messi, who turns 26 later this month, came of age and while his father was in charge of his financial affairs.

The crimes could carry a jail sentence of up to six years and a fine of up to six times the defrauded amount.

"The punishment would usually be between one and five years but it could be avoided as long as an agreement with the tax office is reached," José María Mollinedo, the secretary general of the Union of Finance Ministry Technicians, said in an interview with Spain’s COPE radio.
"If the player pays and admits his involvement, he could obtain a reduction in the minimum punishment, because of which he would not have to go to prison."
Messi has denied any wrongdoing and Barcelona chiefs both past and present have been quick to leap to his defence.
Sandro Rosell, current president of Barca said the club had "no doubts about the innocence" of its star player.
Joan Laporta, the former Barcelona president, was in rare agreement.
"I am convinced that neither Leo nor his father have commited any infraction. It could be that they don't have any responsibility in these events and that third parties are to blame," said Laporta, who ran the club between 2003-2010.
"I know them and they have always wanted to act within the law, and that's how they acted with the club."
Iganacio Wert, Minister for Education, Culture and Sport called for "patience" given the likelihood of the long legal process ahead and insisted justice must run its course.
"Remember there is the presumption of innocence. The law is the same for everyone, even the number one," he said.