August 1 – Juventus chairman Andrea Agnelli has rejected allegations that the Italian champions broke contract terms when Cristiano Ronaldo failed to feature in a pre-season friendly against the K League All Stars in Seoul last week.
Ronaldo was contracted to play at least 45 minutes, according to event organisers, but sat out the game due to ‘muscle fatigue’, leading irate fans to pursue legal action and seek compensation for the cost of tickets and “mental anguish”.
The K League sent a letter of protest to Juve for violating the contract but Agnelli has clarified his club’s position in a counter correspondence to K League President Kwon Oh-gap and seen by Reuters.
“Every single player present in Korea… played the match, except one: Cristiano Ronaldo, who was obliged, according to our medical staff’s advice, to rest due to muscle fatigue after the Nanjing game (against Inter Milan) which was only 48 hours before the one in Seoul,” Agnelli wrote.
“Therefore, Mr President, I definitely reject your accusation of irresponsible behaviour, of arrogance, of disregard for fans, who we always honour. No one at Juventus wanted to bring disrepute to K League, Korea Football Association or Asian Football Confederation.”
Whether this will appease Korean fans is highly doubtful but Agnelli added fuel to the fire by blaming logistics surrounding the game which led to a delayed kickoff.
“There was no time to rest or to hold regular pre-match activity,” he said. “No police escort was provided to the Juventus bus. Traffic was really busy and the coach got stuck for almost two hours, something which has never happened in our experience all over the world.”
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