Why did FCB start that ridiculous hashtag??
He's a criminal, a fraudster in a country with nearly crippling economic issues and record low household income. Call it a witch-hunt all you want but they didn't make him skip his taxes, he's yet another in a long line of (literally) holier than thou Cules who think the rules don't apply to them. On the pitch or off the pitch, this culture is so arrogant and toxic.
Damn shame he didn't go to jail. An example should've been made. Barcelona are as filthy a club as Madrid are made out to be, and I respect the politically complicated history between the Spanish fascist forces and these clubs but in this specific case I see nothing wrong with throwing his tax dodging arrogant ass in prison.
I mean, just because the previous cases were under-pursued, should Messi's be as well? Is he literally better at being a citizen than the swaths of literally poor and hungry Argentinians and Spaniards?
Both countries are in dire shape, this guy had an obligation to his society and people and skirted it. No sympathy, none.
Tax dodgers aren't making political statements about government bureaucracy or overreach, they are cheating so as to pay less than what they agreed to owe, at the expense of regular people. No. Sympathy.
Clueless as ever. Swaths of poor and hungry Spaniards, but let's discriminate against Messi and let the member of the Royal Family (what a concept) off and not even bat an eyelash. You forgot the bit about Kroos being a top 5 midfielder in the World.
Do we have posters with any knowledge about Spanish tax/penal/penal procedural law? Since I know nothing about it, I can only contribute something pretending this to be judged under German law (for what it may be worth):
- Voluntary tax evasion in an amount of € 4.1m would have inevitably led to Messi being actually jailed. His testimony of signin everything without reading it could be considered as gross negligence, since a diligent tax declaration is everyone's duty.
- The public prosecuter does not have to be neutral - the court must be, of course. While the connection to the Real Madrid brass might disturb some Barcelona fans, I do not see any reason for complaints - assuming that the person acted within her legal compences (which seems to be the case).
- The comparison with F. Perez in this quoted lampoon is obviously misleading, to say the least. I assume that Spain's main tax is - like in almost every comparable country - an income tax. There is no doubt that Messi, who came to Spain as a mere pauper, has built his wealth upon income alone - which may very well be taxable in Spain with 53%. Most certainly, wealth is not taxable with 53% in Spain, so of course F. Perez does not have to pay more than € 1bn per year (him having an income of € 80m/year does sound plausible to me, by the way).
- According to Transparency International, Spain is ranked the 35th least corrupt country in 2015. We may discuss about what countries should be considered "Third World", but the vast majority is ranked somewhere else...
- Spain has allowed FC Barcelona - as well as some other clubs - not to pay taxes/social security fees in an amount of several millions Euros. The EU had to force Spain to actually collect these monies. Thus I cannot understand the notion that FC Barcelona receives mistreatment in post-Franqist Spain.
- Without being religious at all, please let me refer to the Bible: Let him who is without sin cast the first stone. That rules me out - and it's not even close.
Gruß,
BSHH
You should really read what's posted in this thread. A few things:
-The Public Prosecutor is the one who called for Messi to be acquitted, and the person in question is very obviously not the Public Prosecutor.
-Spain allowed Barça not to pay taxes, as it did with Madrid, and clubs like Osasuna and Athletic Club. Whether or not it was an objective decision as the EU stated it wasn't, you could argue that the way Barça for example is structured it was sound. That said I don't think they should have got the tax break in the first place as I would still factor in the profits regardless of the money going into the club. Furthermore they already started collecting this tax going forward before that ruling came down.
-The way the Messi and Mascherano cases have been handled compared to those of Casillas and Mourinho should show exactly what you seem to have trouble seeing.
People gave Bayern fans crap for not throwing Hoeness under the bus. Difference is that Hoeness served actual time and had to resign from all his functions.
Meanwhile, Messi is all but declared a martyr by the Catalan victim cult because he actually got busted for his tax avoidance scheme.
I think they do accept that he acted unethically. What they don't accept is that other people were not prosecuted to that extend and that, despite the prosecutor not wanting to press charges, they did anyway.
I can't blame them for that.
Exactly. Where was this for every other person who was prosecuted? Have they all even been prosecuted? Apparently Casillas and Mourinho were, but there is very little out there in the media on it. That actually goes to something about this Messi case. He can appeal up to three times apparently and just watch them revel in him appealing and continue to go after him. At the end of the day they're just happy to keep this in the papers for years and drag his name through the mud.
Every single person that I've seen comment on this, whether it's on a forum, in a column or in a comments section to an article in a "Barça" paper, they've all essentially said that he should get punishment but that he should be treated as everyone else is and not differently as he has been.
But hey, the less you know.
Something to think about.
This sums things up really well. People should have a read of his tweets on this. And the "double Irish arrangement" sounds like what Ronaldo probably did when paid taxes through Ireland to pay what was supposedly half of what he would have had to pay in Portugal.
I think his pedestrian game against France catapulted him to the absolute top, though.
