Lionel Messi tax fraud case: Barcelona player will stand trial over allegations, judge rules

Prosecutors had previously decided not to pusue a case against Messi

The player's father will also stand trial (Getty Images)

Lionel Messi will stand trial in Spain on three counts of tax fraud, despite prosecutors deciding not to pursue a case against the Barcelona player earlier this week.

Court documents made public Thursday say a judge has rejected a request to clear Messi from wrongdoing and decided to charge him and his father, Jorge Horacio Messi, with tax fraud.

Prosecutors had said Messi was not aware of his father's unlawful activities, but the state attorney's office contended that the Argentina forward knew enough to also be named in the case.

Messi and his father are accused of defrauding Spain's tax office of 4 million euros ($4.5 million) in unpaid taxes from 2007-09.

The pair made a voluntary 'corrective payment' of €5m (3.69m), equal to the alleged unpaid tax plus interest, in August 2013.

AP