Ronaldo fans awarded compensation after Juventus star didn't play in pre-season friendly

The two supporters were granted a small financial sum on the grounds of "mental anguish", with a further 87 awaiting news on their possible payouts.


The decision to keep Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench for a pre-season friendly between Juventus and the K League All-Stars in July last year has seen two fans awarded £240 ($312) in compensation.

Organisers of the match, The Fasta, promised the Portuguese star would play at least 45 minutes of the match, with 65,000 fans ultimately turning out as tickets sold out within three minutes.

Ronaldo ended up remaining on the bench for the game, however, with fans less than happy over his lack of involvement and Lionel Messi's name reportedly chanted at one point as a sign of fan frustration.


In the aftermath, two supporters filed a lawsuit against the organisers of the match and have now been awarded a full refund plus £194 for "mental anguish".

"The Fasta misled and used the fans of Cristiano Ronaldo for their own benefit," the client's lawyer Kim Min-ki said.

"To the fans of Ronaldo, this is equivalent to losing the player whom they would have admired and supported their entire lives."

The compensation is unlikely to end there either, with a further 87 fans filing a civil lawsuit in relation to the match which, if won, will see each plaintiff awarded £614 ($799).

Juventus have been widely criticised by Korean fans for their handling of the match after it was delayed for almost an hour and ended in a 3-3 draw.

The Korean Football Association sent a formal letter of protest to the Italian club with a statement later released criticising the subsequent response received from Juventus.

"There wasn't a single word for Ronaldo's failure to play. There was no explanation for what happened," the KFA statement read.

"There was no apology for the Juventus squad's arrival at the stadium an hour or so late, and the ridiculous and insulting demand to reduce the game time to 40 minutes for each half."


While their pre-season is now coming under scrutiny, Maurizio Sarri's side have enjoyed a strong campaign to date and currently lead Serie A by three points.

Ronaldo himself has been in fine form, scoring twice in their most recent 3-0 win over Fiorentina to take his league goal tally for the season to 19.

Juventus are next in action against Hellas Verona on Saturday before a midweek trip to AC Milan for the first leg of their Coppa Italia semi-final.