Panama Papers exposè has further tainted the international football body FIFA as it struggles to fight corruption. The current Ballon d’or winner and Barcelona’s forward Leonel Messi; Juan Pedro Damiani who is FIFA’s ethics lawyer, member of FIFA ethics committee and the president of Uruguayan club Peñarol; former UEFA president who is currently suspended by FIFA Michel Platini; and Argentinian president Mauricio Macri who is also a former president of Boca Juniors football club are few of the big names in the list.
According to the Argentine newspaper La Nacion, which is one of the newspapers with access to the data, Messi and his father Jorge own an offshore company called Mega Star Enterprises. The name first surfaced on 13 June, 2013, just a day after the Spanish government filed tax fraud charges against Messi. Moreover, it seems that the Spanish government was unaware of the account.
It is too early to tell whether they broke the laws, but Spanish prosecutors announced that investigations have begun. The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) report stresses that the formation of a company in a tax haven is not a crime. It is only a crime if the shell company is used to launder money or to evade tax.
Jorge Messi admitted that the company exists, but stressed that accusations of wrongdoing are lies. He pointed out that he will pursue legal action against the media outlets that published the information.
Messi and his father are already on trial on charges of evading taxes of 4.1 million euros earned between 2007 and 2009. Prosecutors said that Messi’s father primarily carried out most of the unlawful activities and that the footballer was charged as he was ‘aware enough’ of his father’s wrongdoing.
Juan Pedro Damiani’s law firm worked for the offshore companies linked to Eugenio Figueredo, a former FIFA vice president. Figueredo has been indicted in the US on wire fraud and money laundering charges as well.
Platini, who is currently serving a six-year ban from all football-related activities for an ethics breach, turned to Mossack Fonseca to help him administer an offshore company in Panama in 2007.
