Juventus News: Bianconeri face legal action from sports agency for benching Cristiano Ronaldo in Seoul exhibition match
What's the story?
Juventus are reportedly facing legal action from a local agency called TheFasta, which was in charge of the exhibition match between Juventus and the South Korean league All-Stars team last week.
The agency claims that the Serie A champions breached a contract agreement by disallowing Cristiano Ronaldo to play the game as he was obligated to do so by contractual terms.
In case you didn't know
Juventus went head-to-head with the K League All-Stars on Friday last week in a game that saw both sides play out a 3-3 draw at the Seoul World Cup Stadium.
The game saw a notable absence in the Bianconeri starting squad as Ronaldo was seen on the bench throughout the game, to the disappointment of the 63,000 fans gathered at the venue.
The exhibition match also saw a 58-minute delay as the Serie A giants arrived in South Korea on a delayed flight from Nanjing, China.
Ronaldo's absence prompted the frustrated crowd to chant his name throughout the first half of the game before even calling out Lionel Messi's name in an effort to spite the forward.
Bianconeri manager Maurizio Sarri explained the absence after the game, telling reporters that the Portuguese ace was left out because of fatigue. The 34-year-old forward recently concluded a long season as he led his national team to the inaugural UEFA Nations League title.
The heart of the matter
According to Corriere dello Sport, TheFasta is now seeking damages from Juventus as they failed to honour the terms of their contract which required Ronaldo to pay at least 45 minutes of the exhibition match.
In addition, the K-League are reportedly demanding financial compensation from the agency as it did not receive any prior notice of Ronaldo's absence.
The K-League has since apologised to its fans for the disappointment in a statement which read, "We sincerely apologize to fans for Ronaldo not playing in the match although he was later found to have a muscle problem. We’ll pay more careful attention to not disappoint K-League fans."
Meanwhile, the Bianconeri are scheduled to face Atletico Madrid in the International Champions Cup on Saturday.