5 times Lionel Messi proved he is human

Despite his sqeaky-clean image, Lionel Messi has been involved in plenty of controversy

Lionel Messi has always been considered more likeable than his big rival Cristiano Ronaldo, and it’s not surprising why. You won’t see Messi criticising his teammates, or posing in his underwear, or complaining about being “sad”....you get the picture.

With that said, Messi is certainly no saint. There have been various incidents of controversy throughout his career that have brought his squeaky-clean image into question, meaning that maybe he’s the equal of Ronaldo in that arena, too. Here are five of the best – or worst, if you will.

#1: The tax dodging issue

BARCELONA, SPAIN - JUNE 02: Lionel Messi leaves the courthouse followed by his father Jorge Horacio Messi (2nd R) and his brother Rodrigo Messi (R) on June 2, 2016 in Barcelona, Spain. Lionel Messi and his father Jorge Messi, who manages his financial affairs, are accused of defrauding the Spanish Tax Agency of 4.1 million Euros ($4.6 million, 3.2 million) by using companies based in tax havens such as Belize and Uruguay to conceal earnings from image rights during years 2007 to 2009. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images) — Messi and his father Jorge were convicted of tax fraud in June 2016

So for all the wrongs Ronaldo might’ve committed in his career, at least he’s never ended up in court. Messi did in June 2016 and in fact he was perilously close to a prison sentence if it were not for Spanish laws stating that non-violent, first-time offenders given short sentences can serve their sentence under probation.

The crime? Tax evasion that Harry Redknapp himself (alledgedly) would’ve been proud of. Messi and his father landed in hot water with the Spanish government when it was revealed that over a period of two years – 2007-2009 to be exact – they’d defrauded the tax authorities of around £3.19m, a pretty monstrous figure by anyone’s standards.

Using tax havens in Uruguay and Belize, Messi and his father hid away the money, thought to be the income from image rights with companies such as Adidas, Danone and Coca-Cola. While Messi denied any knowledge of this, putting the blame solely on his father, who had dealt with the contracts, the courts decided that Leo knew enough to be guilty too.

His sentence? 21 months on probation. There was no word on whether his bank accounts were under his dog’s name, though!