Seoul police investigate Cristiano Ronaldo's controversial absence from friendly

Posted Friday, August 09, 2019 by Marca.com

South Korean police have opened an investigation against a local sports promoter, following Cristiano Ronaldo's absence from a friendly between Juventus and the K League All-Stars in Seoul, which generated outrage from the attending public.

The local authorities are investigating possible fraud committed by TheFasta, who organised the friendly on July 26.

On Thursday, Seoul police raided the headquarters of this company to try and determine whether there was a contractual obligation with Juventus for Cristiano to play during the friendly, sources from the investigation told Yonhap.

Cristiano remained on the bench throughout the clash due to muscle discomfort, according to the Italian club, while the promoting company maintain that Juventus had agreed for the former Real Madrid player to play at least 45 minutes of the friendly.

Some 66,000 spectators had paid up to 400,000 won (295 euros) for tickets, many of whom showed their anger at Cristiano's absence by signing a petition to file a collective complaint against the promoter.

In addition, the K League, the regulatory body of South Korean professional football, last week sent a letter to Juventus in protest of the case and demanded that the Turin club offer "an apology or explanation" for what happened.

The match played at the Seoul World Cup Stadium ended in a 3-3 draw, which was played an hour later than expected because Juventus were delayed in getting to the stadium.