Record Serie A winners Juventus are set to lose out on a long-standing legal battle against Portugal and Al-Nassr striker, Cristiano Ronaldo.
The 40-year-old is an absolute legend for so many clubs across several leagues, but what appeared to be an ugly fight against his former side has seen him emerge winner.
During Ronaldo’s time at Juventus, he won two league titles in his first two seasons, but the problems started when the COVID-19 hit. Fans couldn’t attend the stadium to watch games, and as such, the Old Ladies were losing €2.7m per home game.
As a result, it was hard to keep the club afloat and the club hierarchy took drastic measures which didn’t turn out well.
The Turin-based club secured agreements with their players to waive four months of their salaries to help the club navigate the financial downsides of the pandemic.
However, it was later revealed that some players, including Ronaldo, didn’t genuinely accept a reduction in their salary, but were instead promised to defer their wages to the following financial years of their contracts, as long as they remained at the club.
In August 2021, Ronaldo returned to Manchester United, and Juventus pocketed €17m from the transfer, but refused to pay the five-time Ballon d’Or winner the remaining part of his salary, and the man who’s chasing the millennial number of career goals took legal steps.
According to Juve FC, an arbitration council ruled in favour of the five-time UEFA Champions League winner, ordering the Bianconeri to pay CR7 circa €9.7m, although the player had requested a figure around €19m.
Juventus were not pleased with the ruling, and went to court to appeal. Upon further hearing from the court, the verdict has been ruled in Ronaldo’s favour.
The Court of Appeal not only upheld the original verdict, but also ordered Juventus to pay €80,000 in legal fees, summing the entire fee the Al-Nassr forward will earn to approximately €10m.
