The trial of the Argentina and Barcelona footballer Lionel Messi on tax fraud charges has begun in Spain.
Messi and his father Jorge, who manages his financial affairs, are accused of defrauding Spain of more than €4m (£3m; $4.5m) between 2007 and 2009.
The authorities allege that the two used tax havens in Belize and Uruguay to conceal earnings from image rights with the Spanish tax agency demanding heavy fines and prison sentences.
According to the alleged statement published by the Barcelona daily, the judge showed him several sponsorship contracts that he signed, but he did not remember them.
“This is something that my dad manages. And I trust him. I devote myself to playing football,” he reportedly said.
“I do what he tells me to.” Spanish prosecutors are seeking a jail sentence of 22-and-a-half months for Messi and his father if they are found guilty, plus fines equivalent to the amount that was allegedly defrauded.
The trial is expected to last for three days, with Messi appearing in court on Thursday.
The income related to Messi’s image rights, including contracts with Banco Sabadell, Danone, Adidas, Pepsi-Cola, Procter and Gamble, and the Kuwait Food Company.
Messi’s lawyers had argued that the player had “never devoted a minute of his life to reading, studying or analysing” the contracts.
But the high court in Barcelona ruled in June 2015 that the football star should not be granted immunity for not knowing what was happening with his finances, which were being managed in part by his father.
Messi and his father made a voluntary €5m (£3.8m, $5.6m) “corrective payment” – equal to the alleged unpaid tax plus interest – in August 2013.