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BARCELONA, Spain -- Former Barcelona president Joan Laporta defended Lionel Messi against allegations of tax fraud on Thursday, a case that experts say could carry a prison sentence for the Argentina star. A Spanish state prosecutor filed a fraud complaint on Wednesday alleging that Messi and his father Jorge avoided paying 4 million euros ($5.3 million) in back taxes through illegal overseas tax havens. "I am convinced that neither Leo nor his father have committed any infraction," Laporta told Cope radio. "The situation could be that they dont have any responsibility in these events. There can be third parties who are responsible. "I know them and they have always wanted to act within the law, and thats how they acted with the club, at least when I was president." Laporta said that Messi and his family lacked the financial know-how necessary to have set up the network of shell companies and tax havens in countries including Belize and Uruguay described in the prosecutors complaint. "They were always careful, lets say even wary, when faced with these situations that were over their heads because they didnt have the knowledge of a lawyer or a tax expert, and so they went out and got advisers," he said. Messi has denied any wrongdoing and his lawyers issued a statement on Thursday saying that he "has always punctually attended to his fiscal obligations." The case was submitted at the court in Gava, near the Mediterranean coastal town where Messi lives. A judge at the court must accept the prosecutors complaint before charges can be brought against Messi and his father. A court official told The Associated Press that a decision should come in a matter of days. If found guilty and barring an out-of-court deal with the tax office, Messi and his father could face 2-6 years in jail, according to Professor Sandalio Gomez, a sports finance analyst at the IESE Business School. In the complaint, state prosecutor Raquel Amado alleges that from 2006-09 Messi "obtained significant revenue derived from the transfer to third parties of his image rights, income which should have been taxed." Gomez told the AP that the prosecutors complaint appeared to be strong, while noting that hiring or establishing a company-- even overseas-- to manage players image rights was legal as long as they met their tax burdens in Spain. "(The complaint) is well argued," he said, adding that it reminded him of the investigation of Inaki Urdangarin, the son-in-law of Spains King Juan Carlos who is under investigation for possible tax fraud and money laundering. Laporta, who was Barcelonas president from 2003-10 and is considering running again in 2016 after his foray into politics, said that under his mandate Messi directly controlled 100 per cent of earnings from his image rights. But, Laporta said, Barcelona did follow a common practice of paying 15% of Messis salary to a company that controlled his image rights. He said that he didnt remember where that company was based. "If it was a company based outside Spain it would have been a registered company and in that sense a lawful company," Laporta said. Messi is not the first athlete to be investigated in Spain for taxes. Last year former Portugal star Luis Figo was forced to pay 2.45 million euros in income tax pertaining to image rights from 1997-99 while playing for Barcelona. In 2009, former top-ranked womens player Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario had to pay millions in back taxes. The 25-year-old Messi is widely considered the best player of his generation and one of the best in history after winning an unprecedented four straight FIFA world player of the year awards. He has scored 133 goals for Barcelona over the last two seasons and helped it win its fourth Spanish league title in five seasons this year. Messi, who is rated by Forbes as the worlds 10th highest-paid athlete, reportedly earned $41.3 million to June this year; with $20.3 coming from his club salary and $21 million in endorsements. Messi leads an apparently quiet life focused on his family-- he became a father last year-- and has never been linked to any unsavoury episodes, making him a universally liked figure in Spain and abroad. Spain has been cracking down on tax evasion as it fights to repair the countrys public finances amid recession and the collapse of its once-booming real estate sector. The country has been further hurt by a series of corruption and financial fraud cases which until now had been limited to the worlds of business and politics. Clearance Yeezy For Sale . Canada is now down to its 22-player limit, although but players wont be registered until Christmas Day. Changes could still be made as a result of a suspension or injury. Fake Yeezy Online . Philadelphia is 2-0 against the Senators this season and scored five goals in each victory. The Flyers recorded a 5-0 win in Ottawa on Nov. 12 and then earned a 5-2 home decision on Nov. 19. The Flyers have claimed three straight and four of the last five encounters with the Sens overall and Philly has won two in a row and three of its past four tests in Canadas capital city. https://www.yeezychina.us/ . Robredo, ranked No. 16, bounced back from an upset loss to Leonardo Mayer in the second round of the Royal Guard Open in Chile last week to down Carreno Busta in 1 hour, 25 minutes. On a day filled mostly with qualifying matches, fifth-seeded Marcel Granollers of Spain also entered the second with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 win over Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia, while Guido Pella of Argentina defeated Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 7-6 (6), 6-4 to advance. Cheap Yeezy Free Shipping . -- Arizona raced out to a big lead and did not back off, hitting the accelerator instead. Cheap Yeezy China . Manuel was offered a position the day he was fired. He accepted earlier this week and the team made the announcement Friday. BALTIMORE -- The bullpen door kept swinging open, and one Toronto pitcher after another made his way to the mound seeking to keep the powerful Baltimore Orioles in check. Five Blue Jays relievers combined for five shutout innings, and Toronto overcame home runs by Chris Davis and Adam Jones in a 7-3 victory Saturday. J.P. Arencibia gave the Blue Jays the lead with a two-run single in the sixth, Edwin Encarnacion hit his 25th homer and Maicer Izturis had three hits to help the Blue Jays secure their fourth win in 11 games. But the key was the bullpen. Aaron Loup (4-3) got the victory with 1 1-3 innings of hitless relief. Loup replaced starter Todd Redmond, who allowed three runs in four innings. Dustin McGowan, Brett Cecil and Steve Delabar followed before Casey Janssen entered with one out in the ninth and struck out Nate McLouth and Manny Machado for his 18th save in 19 chances. "The bullpen came in and theres not much to say other than theyve really been lights out the whole year and continue to pitch that way," Arencibia said. Baltimore managed only three hits over the final five innings after Davis and Jones went deep to give the Orioles a 3-2 lead. "They hammer mistakes. If you make them against these guys, theyre going to make you pay," Arencibia said. "Thats why they are as good as they are." One of the positives this season for the last-place Blue Jays has been the performance of their bullpen. When rested, its tough to beat. "Those guys have been used pretty good this year, but with one more game before the (All-Star) break we knew we could do that today," Toronto manager John Gibbons said. The strategy worked perfectly. "Theyve got a good bullpen," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "Once they got the lead there, they can really match up with you." Davis increased his major league-leading home run total to 36 with his third long ball in three games, a solo shot in the second inning. Reggie Jackson is the only player in AL history with more home runs before the All-Star break, hitting 37 in 1969. Baltimore led 3-2 before the Blue Jays took the lead in the sixth against Jason Hammel (7-6). Singles by Adam Lind, Colby Rasmus and Izturis loaded the bases for Arencibia, who lineed a single to left.dddddddddddd Toronto pulled away with three runs in the seventh. Jose Bautista hit an RBI double, then Lind and Rasmus delivered run-scoring grounders. Torontos Brett Lawrie, activated from the disabled list before the game, went 0 for 4 in his first big league start at second base. Lawrie was moved from third base so that the steady hitting Izturis could stay in the lineup. Hammel gave up six runs and 10 hits in six-plus innings. The right-hander is 0-4 with a 5.59 ERA in eight starts since May 27 and has surrendered 19 home runs this season compared to nine all last year. Asked to assess his latest performance, Hammel replied, "Unacceptable. Far too many base runners. Get behind hitters. Fastball-hitting club that I am feeding fastballs. Its easy to hit when you know whats coming. I am not throwing sliders for strikes. Not throwing curveballs where I want them. Changeup is non-existent. Im beating myself right now." Although he has a winning record, his 5.24 ERA is more indicative of his first-half performance. "These guys are battling for me," Hammel said. "You may get runs, you may not. But youve still got to make pitches during that time. And Im not doing it." The game drew a crowd of 46,150, the fifth sellout of the season at Camden Yards. Baltimore won the previous four. Hammel faced three batters before falling behind 2-0. Jose Reyes led off with a double, and Encarnacion hit a one-out drive over the centre-field wall, his second homer in two games. Davis hit an opposite-field homer to left on a full count in the second inning to get the Orioles within a run. Baltimore went up 3-2 in the fourth. After Jones opened the inning with his 18th home run, Redmond hit Davis with a pitch and Brian Roberts delivered a two-out RBI double off the right-field wall. The Orioles got only three hits the rest of the way. NOTES: Torontos J.A. Happ, who was hit in the head by a line drive on May 7, returned to the mound and pitched three innings in the Gulf Coast League on Saturday. He allowed four hits and no earned runs. ... Baltimores Scott Feldman (0-1) will go against Torontos Josh Johnson (1-4) in Sundays finale. Feldman is 0-4 lifetime against the Blue Jays. ... Jones received two walks in a game for the first time this season. ' ' '