Lionel Messi summoned over Spain tax fraud -Thursday June 20,2013

Lionel Messi and his father Jorge have been ordered to appear before a court on Sep 17,2013after Spanish prosecutors accused the pair of tax fraud.

Lionel Messi and his father are accused of defrauding the Spanish authorities of more than 4m euros (£3.4m).They both deny the allegations.

"The judge has accepted the complaint presented by the [Catalonia tax crime] prosecutor against Lionel Messi and Jorge Horacio Messi for three alleged crimes against the tax authorities," a Barcelona court said in a statement.

"The acceptance of the case is the next step after a complaint is presented. The court can start to investigate and reach a conclusion as to whether a crime has been committed or not.

"The magistrate has called the accused to give evidence on September 17."

In the Spanish legal system, if the magistrate determines there is sufficient evidence to bring charges, he or she will do so and then proceed with a pre-trial investigation.

The complaint relates to the three tax periods of 2007, 2008 and 2009, the court said.