Panama leaks: Lionel Messi, Michel Platini exposed in secret offshore dealings

Paris: A leak of 11.5 million tax documents on Sunday exposed the secret offshore dealings of aides to football star Lionel Messi and UEFA president Michel Platini.

The massive leak also includes the names of Russian president Vladimir Putin, world leaders and celebrities.

FIFA’s - football’s governing body – name also appears in the document.

The law firm of a member of FIFA's ethics committee, Juan Pedro Damiani, had business ties with three men indicted in the FIFA scandal: former FIFA vice president Eugenio Figueredo, as well as Hugo Jinkis and his son Mariano who were accused of paying bribes to win soccer broadcast rights in Latin America.

Argentine football great Messi and his father owned a Panama company, Mega Star Enterprises Inc., a shell company that had previously not come up in Spanish investigations into the father and son's tax affairs.

Also in the world of football, Francetvinfo named UEFA president Michel Platini as the beneficiary of a Panama-based tax company, adding however that no illegal activity was alleged.

Platini's communications service said in a statement sent to AFP that "all of his accounts and assets are known to the tax authorities in Switzerland, where he has been a tax resident since 2007".