Trial of former Barça head Sandro Rosell begins in Madrid

The trial of former FC Barcelona president, Sandro Rosell, began on Monday in Spain's National Court and is expected to last for a number of weeks.

Rosell, who headed the football club between 2010 and 2014, is charged with five others, including his wife, of fraud offenses, and faces 11 years in prison and a fine of 59 million euros.

Rosell was jailed without bail in May 2017 over accusations of money laundering and belonging to a criminal organization in relation to television rights for football matches.

Specifically, Rosell is accused of misappropriating money from the sale of TV rights for friendly matches involving Brazil's national team. Rosell denies all the charges.

According to the prosecution, Rosell helped launder some 20 million euros that came from commissions for more than 20 matches played by the Brazil national team in a deal with Ricardo Teixeira, the former head of the Brazilian Football Confederation.

Rosell has spent almost two years in custody, despite appealing for conditional bail on 10 occasions, all of which were turned down by the court, which considers him a flight risk.