Italian football giant Juventus has been ordered by the Italian courts to pay Portuguese football star Cristiano Ronaldo €9.7 million ($10.4 million) in back wages for the 2020-21 season, as announced on Wednesday.
The Court of Arbitration, to which Ronaldo had appealed, stated, “orders Juventus Turin to pay the sum of 9,774,166.66 euros,” along with interest and procedural costs, in its decision.
This sum reflects the disparity between the salary Ronaldo actually received and the amount he should have received after tax and other deductions.
Ronaldo, who spent three seasons in Italy with Juventus (2018-21) before moving to Manchester United (2021-22) and subsequently joining the Saudi club Al Nassr, had initially claimed 19.5 million euros. However, the arbitration panel reduced this by 50 percent.
Juventus declined to comment when contacted by AFP but stated that it would issue a statement “shortly.”
According to rankings compiled by the American business magazine Forbes, Ronaldo, a five-time Ballon d’Or winner, was the world’s highest-paid sportsman in 2023, earning $136 million, including $46 million in wages.
Juventus, listed on the stock exchange, reported losses of 123.7 million euros in the 2022-23 financial year, which ended in June, as announced in October. The club, currently third in Serie A, has not allocated funds for the payment of this wages backlog in its accounts.