Messi ordered to appear in court on fraud charges

FC Barcelona striker Lionel Messi will have to stand trial on corruption charges after a judge in the Catalan town of Gava rejected the footballer's appeal against having to appear, it was confirmed Friday.

Messi had alleged and had been backed up by the Spanish anti-corruption judge that he had not known the details of the economic activities of his father and representative, Jorge Horacio Messi, which are under investigation, reports Xinhua.

The judge had considered that the Argentine international had been "at the margin of the economic, contractual and tax management" carried out by his father, who is also accused of fraud as the result of allegations regarding his son's image rights for the years 2007, 2008 and 2009.

The judge in Gava considered it to be a "subjective" opinion that Messi had known nothing about his father's management of his accounts and he will now have to defend himself from the accusations in a trial which is certain to be in the headlines both in Spain and abroad.