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Spanish judge rules Messi should not post bail

Barcelona's Lionel Messi from Argentina celebrates after scoring against Valencia during their La Liga soccer match at the Mestalla stadium in Valencia, Spain, Sunday, Sept. 1, 2013. (AP Photo/Alberto Saiz)

MADRID (AP) — A Spanish court has declined a request by the State Agency for Tax Administration to set bail for Lionel Messi and his father in a case of alleged tax fraud after ruling that a payment made satisfied the case’s legal requirements.

Barcelona’s Lionel Messi from Argentina celebrates after scoring against Valencia during their La Liga soccer match at the Mestalla stadium in Valencia, Spain, Sunday, Sept. 1, 2013. (AP Photo/Alberto Saiz)

In a ruling published on Wednesday, a Catalan court says that a payment of more than $6.6 million made by Jorge Horacio Messi, the Barcelona star’s father, made it unlikely that either Messi or his father would withhold funds “during the legal process of a pending tax fraud trial.”

The complaint, originally lodged by Raquel Amado, a state prosecutor for the northeastern region of Catalonia, alleged Messi tried to conceal the extent of his earnings and he owes $5.3 million in back taxes.

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