Have you ever been disappointed going to see your sporting hero in person? Maybe they didn’t perform well, or they were hardly involved in the game. Well, some fans in South Korea are suing a sporting agency after Cristiano Ronaldo did not play in a preseason friendly while on tour in Seoul, South Korea.
Seems like a bit much, no? I mean, I get it. There is a very strong cult following for players like Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Neymar and other high-profile players, but come on! When Ronaldo’s Juventus played against the K-League All-Stars, he was left to sit on the bench. Pavel Nedved, Juventus’ vice president, apologized after he was told by Ronaldo that the superstar “doesn’t want to (play). There’s nothing I can do.”
Ronaldo’s appearance on the pitch was highly anticipated by everyone in Seoul, but they were left empty handed, so to speak, and they clearly expressed their desire to see him playing.
The fans were heard shouting his name, but the Portuguese superstar ignored the appeals of the 65,000 sell-out crowd at the World Cup stadium to take off the warm-up kit and get out there. When that didn’t work, some began to shout the name of his biggest competitor, Leo Messi, because that surely would get Ronaldo to play. Even that didn’t work, though; who would have thought?
However, it would seem, due to legal contractual agreements, that the fans do, in fact, have some merit in their frustrations beyond just passionate fandom for the player. When the game was announced, the organizers said that the contract with Juventus included an obligation for Ronaldo to play for at least 45 minutes, which then resulted in many fans splashing the cash for the tickets and coming out in huge numbers to see the star.
The tickets ranged from $25 to $338, and they sold out in less than three hours once they were released on July 3.
What do the fans want?
The lawsuit will be seeking compensation in the form of around $60 per ticket, nearly $847 per ticket for “mental anguish” and 85 cents per ticket for the commission fee. This will all be directed at The Fasta Inc., the group that organized the match against the Bianconeri. It will be very interesting to watch this develop in the courts in the coming weeks and possibly beyond.
Let’s be honest, most of the fans likely bought their tickets specifically for Ronaldo, and the fact that they were guaranteed at least 45 minutes from the forward and got absolutely none would frustrate any football fan. But maybe this does fall more on the agency that put together the match, because we know Ronaldo has a pretty big say in when he plays wherever he goes, preseason or not. He has to make sure he is ready for the next Serie A season and gets through the preseason games uninjured and gains fitness in the process. Sometimes, that means he just doesn’t play.
With great superstardom, comes great responsibility.
View this post on InstagramFans are taking action over Ronaldo’s failure to appear in a pre-season match
