Peter Okereke
Cristiano Ronaldo has secured a significant off-field victory as a long-running court case with a former club finally comes to an end.
For football fans, especially Real Madrid and Manchester United supporters, there is always a huge interest whenever a familiar name makes headlines elsewhere in Europe. And this time, it’s the world’s most popular player, CR7.
The Portuguese superstar, who was confirmed as the world’s first-ever billionaire footballer last year, has secured yet another win, this time against former club Juventus in a long-running dispute that dates back to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Turin labour court has rejected an appeal lodged by the Italian giants, fully upholding an earlier arbitration ruling that went in the Ronaldo’s favour, as reported by Repubblica relayed via Tutto Sport.
What the legal tussle between Juventus and Cristiano Ronaldo was about
At the centre of the case were wages that had been “frozen” during the COVID-19 pandemic.
This was a period when Juventus reached agreements with players to temporarily suspend salary payments as part of what became known as the club’s “salary manoeuvre”.
Juve argued that those funds were subject to a private agreement that justified delaying or cancelling payment to players. However, judges disagreed and ruled months ago that Ronaldo was entitled to receive the money in full.
The total amount involved stands at approximately £8.4 million ($11.2M), plus accrued interest.
Word on the street, is Juventus already paid the money in 2024 and then attempted to have the arbitration award annulled in court.
Latest court judgement guarantees Ronaldo his money
The effort by the Italian club to overrun the earlier court directive has now failed. The labour judge dismissed Juventus’ arguments as unfounded, confirming that the arbitration ruling was binding and enforceable.
As such, Cristiano Ronaldo will keep the money already received without further arbitration. The Old Lady have also been ordered to cover additional legal costs, reported to be around €50,000 ($58K), adding to the financial sting of the judgement.
Ronaldo was reportedly represented by a legal team led by attorney John Shehata, alongside Emanuele Lucchini Guastalla, Fabio Iudica and Paola Tardati.
Juventus’ appeal strategy had rested on a document signed by the Al-Nassr captain when he left Italy to rejoin Manchester United in 2021, in which he declared he had no further claims against the club.
Crucially, the appeal wasn’t about avoiding new payments, but an attempt to claw back money already paid and accounted for in the club’s 2023–24 financial statements
But the court found that this did not override the arbitration decision, which had already been deemed valid last year. As a result, the latest victory brings this legal tussle to a conclusion and represents another win for Cristiano Ronaldo who will be vying for his first World Cup trophy with Portugal later this year.