South Korean Football Fans Awarded Compensation After Cristiano Ronaldo No-Show In Friendly

Two football fans in South Korea have been awarded a compensation fee of 371,000 won (£286) after Cristiano Ronaldo's no-show in a friendly between Juventus and the K-League All-Stars.

A total of 60,000 supporters turned out at the Olympic Stadium in July last year to watch the tie, with many hoping to see five-time Ballon d'Or winner Ronaldo in action.

But the 34-year-old sat on the bench for the entirety, with manager Maurizio Sarri later claiming he did not select him because of "muscle fatigue".

Frustrated fans in the ground booed the Portuguese superstar and even chanted for Lionel Messi.

In fact many left the stadium early, while more than 2,000 angry supporters reportedly sued match organisers The Fasta Inc after they publicised that Ronaldo would play at least 45 minutes.

Several months later and a report has claimed that the district court in Incheon, west of Seoul, ordered The Fasta Inc to pay 371,000 won (£240) to both fans.

This consisted of 71,000 won (£46) for the match ticket and 300,000 won (£196) for "mental anguish".

Back in July, attorney Kim Hun Ki said many are wanting to be reimbursed for the money they laid out.

"So far, more than 2,000 fans have contacted us to pursue the suit," she told AFP.

"We plan to officially file the suit on their behalf some time next week, if the agency does not offer a concrete plan to compensate the ticket holders before then."

Reports in South Korea said that Ronaldo and teammates were also slated to do an autograph signing session prior to the game.

But that was postponed because their flight from Nanjing in China was delayed, meaning the subsequent game started 58 minutes later than it should have done.

While supporters went home unhappy because of Ronaldo's no-show, they did at least get to see his trademark "SIUUUUU!" celebration.

When Brazilian player Cesinha scored the second for the K-League XI, he and two of his teammates performed Ronaldo's signature move and even pointed at him.

Thoughts on the incident?

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Topics: Football News, South Korea, Football, Fans, Cristiano Ronaldo

Jack Kenmare

Jack Kenmare is a writer at SPORTbible. He's interviewed some of the biggest names in sport, including Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Pele, Carles Puyol and Tim Henman. He dabbles in all things sport but football is his biggest passion. He was once hit in the head by a wayward strike from Nicky Butt and lived to tell the tale.

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