Juventus have been ordered to pay Cristiano Ronaldo more than $10 million by an arbitration board following a salary dispute.
The dispute regarded a move by Juventus players to defer part of their salaries during the coronavirus pandemic.
The €9.8 million ($10.5 million) that Juventus were ordered to pay Ronaldo is half the amount that the five-time Ballon d'Or winner had been seeking from the Turin club in back wages.
Juventus said in a statement late Wednesday that “with the support of their legal counsel” they are “reviewing the decision made by the arbitration board, reserving all assessments and initiatives to preserve its rights.”
Ronaldo played for Juventus from 2018-21, helping the club to two Serie A titles.
Former Juventus president Andrea Agnelli and the entire club board resigned in 2023 amid an investigation into false accounting — which then resulted in a 10-point penalty for Juventus in Serie A and a ban by the Union of European Football Associations (Uefa) from Europe for this season.
Ronaldo now plays for Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia.
According to the rankings drawn up by the American business magazine Forbes, the five-time Ballon d’Or winner was the world’s highest-paid sportsman in 2023, with $136 million, including $46 million in wages.
Juventus, who are listed on the stock exchange, recorded losses of €123.7 million in the 2022-23 financial year, which ran to the end of June, it announced in October.
