Juventus have been ordered to pay their former player Cristiano Ronaldo more than €9.7 million ($10.35 million, £8.3 million) plus interest on salary arrears by the Italian FA football (FIGC).
Ronaldo, 39, played for the Italian club between 2018 and 2021 with arrears relating to his agreement with Juventus to defer part of his salary during the Covid pandemic.
Juventus said in a statement on Wednesday that it would “review the decision taken by the Arbitration Council (FIGC)” and noted that the decision recognized “the absence of fraud” on the part of the club, including “conduct” “did not affect” Ronaldo’s willingness to “enter into such a pay reduction agreement.
The Italian club added that it had been ordered to make the payment of 9.7 million euros due to its “pre-contractual liability” resulting from the “failure of negotiations” with the player.
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Some Juventus players agreed to defer four months of their salaries in March 2020 and April 2021 due to the club’s financial difficulties, but some individual player deals have also been reached.
Ronaldo, according to the documentation, agreed to defer part of his salary as part of a deal with Juventus, but he was not reimbursed the agreed amount.
Ronaldo’s initial claim was for an arrears of 19.5 million euros, but the FIGC arbitration in the matter recognized the contributory negligence between the parties and ruled on the amount of 9,774,166.66 euros, plus the late payment interest and legal costs.
The FIGC board of directors, made up of Gianroberto Villa, Roberto Sacchi and Leandro Cantamessa, decided the sums owed by Juventus, which had admitted non-payment.
Ronaldo joined Juventus from Real Madrid in 2018 and has scored 101 goals in 134 appearances for the club, with whom he won five domestic trophies, including Serie A titles in 2019 and 2020.
The Portuguese international, who currently plays for Saudi club Al Nassr, left Juventus to join Manchester United in August 2021.
(Yasser Bakhsh/Getty Images)