Barcelona star Lionel Messi leaves court after tax fraud hearing

Barcelona star Lionel Messi and his father Jorge have left a court in Gava after facing allegations of tax fraud.

The pair have been accused of filing fraudulent tax returns to the Spanish authorities regarding image rights in 2007, 2008 and 2009, amounting to £3.4m.

The prosecution have claimed that Messi and his father used companies abroad in Belize and Uruguay to sell the Ballon d'Or winner's image rights, but both have argued that the deals were done by the player's former agent without their knowledge.

According to BBC Sport, after arriving in court this morning, Messi and Jorge were questioned separately in a closed-court session.

Both deny the allegations.