I would laugh myself silly if he gets jailed.

Leo and dad accused of using shell companies to avoid paying taxes

The trial of Argentina star Lionel Messi on tax fraud charges opened on Tuesday in Spain in his absence just days before Argentinas first match in the Copa America against Chile.

Messi, 28, and his father, Jorge Horacio Messi, are accused of using a chain of fake companies in Belize and Uruguay to avoid paying taxes on 4.16 million euros ($4.7 million) of Messis income earned through the sale of his image rights from 2007-09.

They have been charged with three counts of tax fraud. The Barcelona court hearing the case adjourned the trial at around noon after considering preliminary legal questions because of the absence of witnesses, including Messis mother Celia Cuccitini. The trial will resume on Wednesday with testimony from the witnesses and experts.

Messi had planned to be in Barcelona for the start of the trial but a lower back injury he suffered during a friendly against Honduras last week prevented him from doing so, defence lawyer Javier Sanchez-Vera said.

The Argentina captain was resting in his hometown of Rosario, located 300 kilometres (185 miles) north of Buenos Aires on Monday. Messi and his father are due to take the stand on Thursday on the last day of the trial.

Under Spanish law, a defendant is not obliged to attend the full trial if prosecutors seek a jail sentence of less than two years. Spanish prosecutors are seeking a jail sentence of 22-and-a-half months for Messi and his father.

Not a chance he gets bird,got to much poke for that.

Very few of these mega stars know much about their tax affairs. Quite possible that he will have a negligence case against his tax or accounting adviser that my well recover any financial damage he endures. Proving that he was acting in good faith on advice received will not save him a fine but would likely save him jail time.

A decent financial or tax adviser would of course have covered their own proverbial and set out the risks as to whether the planned course of action was against tax rules or not or the extent to which it may be. If the adviser has indicated any level of risk that the actions are illegal and Messi said go ahead anyway then he won't have a leg to stand on when it comes to avoiding any jail sentence or recovering monies from his adviser.

[My line of work towards the end of my career was overseeing risk management in a large international financial advisory and consulting firm]

Maybe he can share a cell with Neymar...Suarez would probably be along soon for assault with a dangerous weapon (gnashers).