Cristiano Ronaldo’s back salary of 9.7 million euros is required to be paid by Juventus

Cristiano Ronaldo, a Portuguese sensation, will get 9.7 million euros ($10.4 million) from Juventus as back pay for the 2020–21 campaign, the Italian courts said on Wednesday.

Ronaldo appealed to the Court of Arbitration, which in its ruling said that Juventus Turin “orders Juventus Turin to pay the sum of 9,774,166.66 euros,” plus interest and legal fees.

The amount is equivalent to the discrepancy between Ronaldo’s actual pay and his expected compensation after taxes and other deductions.

Before joining Manchester United (2021–22) and subsequently the Saudi team Al Nassr, Ronaldo played three seasons in Italy with Juventus (2018–21). He was asking for 19.5 million euros, but the arbitration tribunal cut that amount by half.

Juventus told AFP that a statement will be released “shortly” but refused to speak more.

The five-time Ballon d’Or winner made $136 million in 2023, including $46 million in salary, to rank as the highest-paid athlete in the world, according to rankings compiled by the American business magazine Forbes.

Juventus, a publicly traded company, said in October that it had lost 123.7 million euros for the fiscal year 2022–2023 that ended at the end of June.

The most successful Italian football team, which is presently third in Serie A, has not set aside any money in its financial records to cover these payroll arrears.