[Archived] Messi accused of tax fraud

[blue_n_white99]

Looks like Spanish defenders aren't the only thing Messi has given the slip to:

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/news/liga-messi-accused-4m-tax-fraud-125036721.html

[thenodrog]

Simple solution for him if he wants to get that charge done away with and any others dropped..... sign for Real.

[Sparky Marky]

Greedy Kean.

[Guest Norbert]

Very true Gordon.

Tax dodger, has a crap tattoo of his mum.....seems to be more interesting than we thought, this Messi.

[M-K]

Tax is for poor people.

[jim mk2]

Tax is for poor people.

Very true, because rich corporations and wealthy individuals know how to avoid and evade it.

Sadly, Jack Walker was guilty too.

They are all motivated by greed - nothing more.

[Guest Norbert]

[LeChuck]

If it's true then it's pretty disgusting. With over 50% of people 25 or under unemployed in Spain, role models like Messi shouldn't be looking to dodge their responsibilities.

With the economy in Spain as it is surely there will be a real backlash against him. Ultimately the damage done to his brand might end up being worth more than the money he tried to hide.

[blue_n_white99]

If it's true then it's pretty disgusting. With over 50% of people 25 or under unemployed in Spain, role models like Messi shouldn't be looking to dodge their responsibilities.

With the economy in Spain as it is surely there will be a real backlash against him. Ultimately the damage done to his brand might end up being worth more than the money he tried to hide.

I fully agree LeChuck, also Messi always came across as one of the good guys, a truly world class player who always seemed to play just for the joy of the game, guess he's blown that charade. Which is truly sad, as I always hope that despite all the tools in professional football there were plenty of good guys too, looks like one I rated highly in that class has fallen pretty hard.

[M-K]

To be fair to Messi, if I was making £20m a year off my superior talent and pretty face, I'd probably resent having to give up 50% of it to line the pockets of some Spanish dole bludgers.

[Salgado Is A Hero]

I fully agree LeChuck, also Messi always came across as one of the good guys, a truly world class player who always seemed to play just for the joy of the game, guess he's blown that charade. Which is truly sad, as I always hope that despite all the tools in professional football there were plenty of good guys too, looks like one I rated highly in that class has fallen pretty hard.

People say this but I'm not so sure myself. He has a go at David Villa for not passing to him when the pass wasn't the best option, and moans at the ref when he is tackled cleanly occasionally. Then there's the whole Ibrahamovich situation where Messi asked Guardiola if he could play through the middle despite Barca just buying a 50 million pound striker to play there.

Not sure about his fashion sense either, not that that really matters.

[blue_n_white99]

People say this but I'm not so sure myself. He has a go at David Villa for not passing to him when the pass wasn't the best option, and moans at the ref when he is tackled cleanly occasionally. Then there's the whole Ibrahamovich situation where Messi asked Guardiola if he could play through the middle despite Barca just buying a 50 million pound striker to play there.

Not sure about his fashion sense either, not that that really matters.

Most players have bizarre fashion choices, case of too much money and listening to fashion guru @#/?, but as you say that doesn't matter that much and he really does look a @#/? in that picture.

On the playing side I can understand his moaning to a degree since he seems to get booted a lot, probably because they can't stop him any other way, but he complains much less than other talented players who are hacked regularly. Didn't he play behind Ibrahimovic? He's hardly built to be a target man.

[Salgado Is A Hero]

He played on the right but told Guardiola he wanted to play in the middle. Ibrahimovich then got told to play more in the hole off Messi but it just didn't work.

Now Messi's best position is in the middle, but considering Barca just spent all that money on Zlatan, you can argue he's being a bit of a d**k by making them play Zlatan in a position he wouldn't be useful in.

Ibrahimovich was good for Barca in the first half of the season but then did nothing after he moved position.

You're right, he doesn't moan about being fouled, but what annoys me is that he gets cleanly tackled and then moans at the ref or acts all petulant.

I don't dislike him because he's a quality player but I don't agree with the whiter-than-white persona that some seem people to think he has.

[jim mk2]

To be fair to Messi, if I was making £20m a year off my superior talent and pretty face, I'd probably resent having to give up 50% of it to line the pockets of some Spanish dole bludgers.

Spanish "dole bludgers" are suffering through no fault of their own because of the stupidity of the cowboy capitalists. The idea of a progressive tax system is that those with the broadest shoulders pay more. If Messi were fair he would recognise this and struggle along on the £10m a year he gets in his pocket after tax.

[K-Hod]

We don't even know if this is true yet.

Anyway, regardless of the ethics, it stands to reason you'd want to pay as little tax as possible given proportionately how much high earners are taxed rightly or wrongly...

[broadsword]

If

With the economy in Spain as it is surely there will be a real backlash against him. Ultimately the damage done to his brand

Oh dear, this sentence really shows up what a bunch of arse football has now become.

He's not a footballer, he's a "brand", AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

[thenodrog]

Spanish "dole bludgers" are suffering through no fault of their own because of the stupidity of the cowboy capitalists. The idea of a progressive tax system is that those with the broadest shoulders pay more. If Messi were fair he would recognise this and struggle along on the £10m a year he gets in his pocket after tax.

I thought he has been evading it?

Your progressive tax system would simply send the broad shouldered ones to choose exile and encourage more 'narrow backs'. Economic suicide.

[jim mk2]

Might have known you'd respond. If you hadn't noticed most modern economies have a progressive tax system. Show you know bugger all about it.

[thenodrog]

Might have known you'd respond. If you hadn't noticed most modern economies have a progressive tax system. Show you know bugger all about it.

Modern economies? You mean like the most modern and significant? Like China? India? Brazil? Russia? Any modern economies with your kind of 'progressive' tax systems appear to be the failing ones of the West.

[M-K]

Spanish "dole bludgers" are suffering through no fault of their own because of the stupidity of the cowboy capitalists. The idea of a progressive tax system is that those with the broadest shoulders pay more. If Messi were fair he would recognise this and struggle along on the £10m a year he gets in his pocket after tax.

That's ridiculous. It doesn't matter whose fault it is, but Messi definitely isn't one of the cowboy capitalists.

You're saying he should pay millions upon millions for services he never uses, while others do nothing but take. I don't subscribe to that. If I had that kind of money, I'd do everything I could to avoid having to hand over a large proportion of it to a bunch of losers.

I'm going to knock up a 'Free the Barcelona One' T-shirt in protest about this injustice. Those Spaniards should be grateful they've got somebody like him to glorify their two-team league. Go rattle your begging bowls somewhere else.

[LeChuck]

That's ridiculous. It doesn't matter whose fault it is, but Messi definitely isn't one of the cowboy capitalists.

You're saying he should pay millions upon millions for services he never uses, while others do nothing but take. I don't subscribe to that. If I had that kind of money, I'd do everything I could to avoid having to hand over a large proportion of it to a bunch of losers.

I'm going to knock up a 'Free the Barcelona One' T-shirt in protest about this injustice. Those Spaniards should be grateful they've got somebody like him to glorify their two-team league. Go rattle your begging bowls somewhere else.

I thought you were serious for a while.

[T4E]

It's not an injustice, because it is all "alleged". Nothing has happened. Nothing will.

[jim mk2]

Modern economies? You mean like the most modern and significant? Like China? India? Brazil? Russia? Any modern economies with your kind of 'progressive' tax systems appear to be the failing ones of the West.

China, India and Brazil have progressive tax systems while Russia has a flat tax system but is so corrupt I doubt if anyone pays tax at all. As a tax avoider yourself perhaps you should move there.

The US, Germany, Japan, Britain, Canada, France, Australia etc etc, the bedrocks of the world economies, all have progressive tax systems.

It's obvious you don't have a clue what you're talking about.

That's ridiculous. It doesn't matter whose fault it is, but Messi definitely isn't one of the cowboy capitalists.

You're saying he should pay millions upon millions for services he never uses, while others do nothing but take. I don't subscribe to that. If I had that kind of money, I'd do everything I could to avoid having to hand over a large proportion of it to a bunch of losers.

I'm going to knock up a 'Free the Barcelona One' T-shirt in protest about this injustice. Those Spaniards should be grateful they've got somebody like him to glorify their two-team league. Go rattle your begging bowls somewhere else.

It's posts like this that make normal people lose faith in the human race.

[M-K]

It's posts like this that make normal people lose faith in the human race.

I'm sorry you feel that way, but spare a thought for Messi. He has spent his entire working life unwillingly carrying a bunch of freeloaders on his back - a wretched, parasitic burden that he has, quite reasonably, sought to shake off by routing some of his income though offshore accounts.

The taxman has effectively been picking his pockets and burning his money, because that's what distributing it among the hopeless amounts to.

It's not Messi's fault he was born exceptional. Leave him alone, or he'll move to Dubai and we'll be faced with a waste of natural talent for the sake of subsidising the mediocre.

Well, somebody had to say it.

[jim mk2]

Messi's

I'm sorry you feel that way, but spare a thought for Messi. He has spent his entire working life unwillingly carrying a bunch of freeloaders on his back - a wretched, parasitic burden that he has, quite reasonably, sought to shake off by routing some of his income though offshore accounts.

The taxman has effectively been picking his pockets and burning his money, because that's what distributing it among the hopeless amounts to.

It's not Messi's fault he was born exceptional. Leave him alone, or he'll move to Dubai and we'll be faced with a waste of natural talent for the sake of subsidising the mediocre.

Well, somebody had to say it.

Messi's spent his life kicking a football about for which he is paid an extraordinary amount of money. It is not unreasonable to expect him to pay taxes like every other working citizen.

Are you just being deliberately provocative or are you ill ?