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Lionel Messi hasn't out-raced the long arm of the law after all.

A Spanish judge charged Messi and his father, Jorge, with three counts of tax fraud Thursday, according to the Associated Press. The judge rejected a request prosecutors made earlier this week to remove the soccer superstar from the case. Messi, 27, will stand trial and could face a fine and prison time if convicted.

Prosecutors accuse the Messis of evading more than €4 million (£3.1 million; $4.5 million) in taxes owed to the Spanish government by using shell companies in Belize and Uruguay to house the Barcelona star's image rights between 2007 and 2009.

The Messis in August 2013 made a "corrective payment" of more than €5 million (£3.7 million; $5.6 million) in August 2013, but prosecutors have continued to pursue a case against them.

Messi and his father could face a 22-and-a-half-month prison sentence if found guilty of tax evasion.

A date for the trial has not yet been set.

Thumbnail photo via Lalo R. Villar/The Associated Press