Juventus have been ordered to pay their former player Cristiano Ronaldo a staggering 9.7 million euros plus interest in back wages by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC).
What happened?
In September, Ronaldo, who now plays for Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia, had claimed he was owed an outstanding of around €19.5 million in wages by Juventus, relating to a pay cut agreed upon during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The former Manchester United forward wanted to be paid €19 million, the net payment that he was promised by the club when he agreed to defer his wages during lockdown.
However, Juventus players approved to defer four months’ worth of their salaries in March 2020 and April 2021 as the club were reportedly struggling financially.
Meanwhile, the Italian side failed to report these deferred wages – known as ‘salary maneuvers’ – on their financial statements.
According to reports, the arbitration tribunal, however, ruled that Ronaldo and Juventus share responsibility over the issue and ordered the Italian club to pay half of the aforementioned deferred wages.
On Wednesday, April 17, Juventus released a statement that it would review the decision made by the (FIGC) arbitration board and noted that the decision recognized the absence of fraud by the club, whose conduct did not affect Ronaldo’s willingness to enter into such a compensation reduction agreement.
The Italian club added that they had been ordered to make the €9.7 million payment due to their pre-contractual liability resulting from the failure of negotiations with the player.
Recall that Ronaldo signed for Juventus in August 2018 and helped the club win two consecutive Serie A titles, an Italian Cup, and two Super Cups, before leaving Italy to join Manchester United in the summer of 2021.
The 38-year-old departed Juventus after spending three seasons at the club, where he scored 101 goals in 134 appearances for the Old Ladies.
The veteran forward now plays for Saudi side Al-Nassr and has been a key part of the team since moving to the Middle East.
The former Sporting CP forward has represented Al Nassr in 35 games, scoring 35 goals in all competitions this season.
What’s next?
While Juventus will have to come to terms with this legal defeat, Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr side host Al Feiha in the Saudi Pro League on Friday, followed by a trip to Al-Khaleej on April 27.
