The Barcelona and footballing superstar has been connected to the Panama Papers case, with the Argentine allegedly taking part in a scheme to hide his assets and commit tax fraud along with politicians, celebrities and other sports personalities.
In a statement on Monday, Messi's legal team and his family responded to the allegations by denying them completely and threatening to sue the Spanish media outlets that reported the case and cited the player.
"In regards to the news released by several media outlets in which Lionel Messi is held responsible for the creation of a company with the aim of 'putting in place a new framework of tax fraud', the Messi family wishes to make clear that Lionel Messi has not carried out any of the actions he is accused of, the accusations of designing ‘a new framework of tax fraud’ and, even, money laundering, are false and offensive.