Cristiano Ronaldo Takes Legal Action Against Former Club Juventus, Demands Over £17 Million in Unpaid Wages Following Pay Deferral Amidst Covid Pandemic

Cristiano Ronaldo has reportedly decided to take legal action against Juventus over unpaid wages during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

The Portuguese forward wants to be paid £17.15million, the net amount that he was promised by the club when he agreed to defer his wages during lockdown.

Juventus players agreed to defer four months’ worth of their salaries in March 2020 and April 2021 as the club were struggling financially, but individual agreements were also made with players.

These deferred wages – known as ‘salary manoeuvres’ – are one of the subjects of an ongoing investigation. 

Now, Ronaldo has decided that he wants to collect the money owed to him and has requested the relevant documents from the Turin Public Prosecutor’s office, according to La Gazzetta Dello Sport. 

The forward, now at Al-Nassr, agreed to defer his wages during the Covid-19 pandemic

The 38-year-old left Juventus in August 2021 for Manchester United and now plays now plays for Al-Nassr, who sit seventh in the Saudi Pro League.

His move comes after Roma forward Paulo Dybala reached an agreement with Juventus for the approximate £2.6million he was owed.

Dybala has dropped a lawsuit relating to his compensation during the pandemic.

It also follows the revelation that former defender Leonardo Bonucci, now with Union Berlin, said he will pursue legal action against the Bianconeri, though due to an unrelated issue.

Paulo Dybala recently managed to reach an agreement for £2.6m in wages from when he was with the club

Leonardo Bonucci, now at Hertha Berlin, has also said he will launch legal action against the club after he was ‘humiliated’ by being frozen out

The defender, 36, said he was left ‘humiliated’ after manager Massimiliano Allegri froze him out of the squad and forced him to train away from the senior team, which Bonucci said was against his ‘rights’. 

It constitutes a pile-up of issues for a beleaguered Juventus outfit who currently face the Prisma investigation into their alleged false accounting. 

It explores inflated player transfer values, secretive salary arrangements with players, and partnerships with other clubs and agents which are deemed suspicious. 

Last season, they were docked 10 points for irregularities in the club’s accounting, a penalty which saw them miss out on the Champions League places.