tax evasion, a Spanish judge has ruled.
The judge rejected a prosecution recommendation to drop the charges on
the grounds the player's father was responsible for his finances.
Messi and his father Jorge are accused of defrauding the authorities
of more than 4m euros (£3.1m; $5m).
The pair, who deny wrongdoing, have five days to appeal against the ruling.
It is alleged that they withheld the money between 2007 and 2009.
The income related to Messi's image rights, including contracts with
Banco Sabadell, Danone, Adidas, Pepsi-Cola, Proctor and Gamble, and
the Kuwait Food Company.
The footballer and his father are suspected of avoiding paying Spanish
tax by using companies in Belize and Uruguay to sell the rights to use
Messi's image.
The judge ruled: "In this type of crime, it is not necessary for
someone to have complete knowledge of all the accounting and business
operations nor the exact quantity, rather it is sufficient to be aware
of the designs to commit fraud and consent to them."
In August 2013 Messi and his father made a 5m euro "corrective
payment", equal to the alleged unpaid tax plus interest.
Messi has been four times Fifa World Player of the Year and is captain
of Argentina.
The court decision comes as Barcelona grapples with a separate
prominent legal case.
A Madrid court is hearing a lawsuit that accuses Barcelona of
misappropriating funds from the transfer fee to buy Brazil striker
Neymar from Santos in 2013.
Club president Sandro Rosell quit in January, but insisted he had
"acted correctly" over the transfer.
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