Ronaldo dragged into Juventus capital gains investigation

FT Desk

• 25 Oct 2022 19:13 BST
• 3 min read

Cristiano Ronaldo has been asked by Italian prosecutors to explain his situation during his time at Juventus, who could go on trial for financial irregularities at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Juventus directors could go on trial for alleged false accounting and false communications with Turin prosecutor Anna Maria Loreto informing the club's board members and directors about the end of preliminary investigations that began last year.

The Old Lady stand accused of financial sleights of hand which helped them achieve inflated capital gains in the years 2018, '90 and '20.

Club president Andrea Agnelli is one of 16 people being investigated, which also included Juve legend Pavel Nedved and former Director of Football Fabio Paratici, who followed Antonio Conte to Tottenham Hotspur in June 2021.

Agnelli has reportedly had a request for home detention rejected by the Judge of Preliminary Investigations.

Ronaldo request

Although Ronaldo is not directly involved, he was the highest-profile member of the Juventus squad during the period in question, having joined in a €100 million transfer from Real Madrid in July 2018.

His presence has been requested by the prosecutor, but according to Turin-based daily newspaper La Stampa, the Portuguese has thus far refused to take part.

His transfer fee is one of many that the prosecutor would like clarified, with a disparity between numbers the club have quoted and what has actually been paid.

For example, Juve communicated via the stock exchange that they didn't pay up to four months wages until March 2020, but investigators aim to prove that Italy's record champions only missed a single payment.

Ronaldo was personally charged with fraudulently avoiding €15 million in tax between 2011 and 2014, when he was still at Real Madrid.

He was given a two-year suspended sentence and an €18.8m fine, later reduced to €16.8m, after reaching a deal with Spanish authorities.