Messi takes to the stand

Barcelona Footballer and his father to give evidence

Lionel Messi and his father, Jorge, will appear in court before the judge investigating the alleged tax evasion committed by the player.

Six witnesses attended the trial on Wednesday and said Messi was not responsible for the fraud, pointing towards the player's father as the man who controlled the players's accounts.

Four of those witnesses belong to Juarez & Asociados, the lawyer's office that was in charge of Messi's image rights during the time in which this alleged tax evasion happened.

"The representative was always Jorge Messi and sometimes Rodrigo Messi, but Leo never spoke to us directly," said Iñigo Juarez.

"I always received all the contracts signed by Leo already," he added.

Iñigo Juarez's brother, Angel, was clear when he said that "sometimes Messi visited our meetings but never made the decisions," before explaining that he doesn't "have Messi's phone number or his e-mail."

He also revealed that Jorge Messi "knew that the money in Uruguay wasn't paying taxes in Spain."

Former agent Josep Maria Minguella said that as soon as Messi became a football star, the family "hired the Juarez brothers because they didn't know how to properly manage the money."

Leo Messi and his father will speak on Thursday and the judge will reach his first conclusions on Friday.