Juventus takes Cristiano Ronaldo salary dispute to Italy’s Supreme Court

Wednesday 14 - 15:20

By: Azzat Manal

Juventus takes Cristiano Ronaldo salary dispute to Italy’s Supreme Court

Italian football club Juventus has escalated its legal dispute with Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo to Italy’s Court of Cassation, seeking to overturn a ruling that allowed the former Juventus forward to retain €9.8 million in unpaid salary claims linked to arrangements made during the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to reports by Italian financial publication Calcio e Finanza, which cited the club’s financial statements for the 2025–2026 financial year, the case is one of three separate legal proceedings involving Juventus. The other disputes concern administrative penalties and challenges to regulatory decisions over the club’s financial reporting and player transfers.

Ronaldo’s claim dates back to the period when he played for Juventus, before returning to Manchester United in 2021 and later joining Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr. During the pandemic, the club and its players were involved in salary arrangements intended to ease financial pressure as football operations were disrupted.

Ronaldo initially sought €19.6 million, arguing that the amount remained due under the relevant agreements. On April 17, 2024, an arbitration panel ordered Juventus to pay €9.8 million, representing half of the original claim, along with interest and monetary revaluation. The decision was based in part on the club’s pre-contractual responsibility following the failure of negotiations between the parties.

Juventus paid the amount during the 2023–2024 financial year but subsequently challenged the arbitration ruling before the Labour Section of the Turin Court on September 26, 2024. The court rejected the club’s challenge on January 13, 2026, leaving the arbitration decision in force and ordering Juventus to cover approximately €80,000 in legal costs.

The club formally notified its appeal to the Court of Cassation on March 27, 2026. A hearing date has not yet been announced. The latest appeal focuses on legal questions surrounding the earlier judgment rather than reopening the entire dispute over the underlying facts.

Juventus has indicated that it does not expect additional adverse financial effects from the ruling, noting that the payment has already been made and reflected in its previous accounts. The current proceedings therefore concern the legal outcome of the case rather than an immediate obligation to pay the original amount again.

The Ronaldo dispute is separate from two other proceedings involving Italy’s financial market regulator, Consob. One concerns administrative sanctions totalling €500,000, including €190,000 imposed on Juventus and a combined €310,000 imposed on former club officials. The club is also jointly liable for the payment of the penalties imposed on those individuals.

Juventus challenged the sanctions on January 30, 2026, after being notified of the decision on December 31, 2025. The Turin Court of Appeal has scheduled a hearing for March 16, 2027. The penalties stem from alleged breaches of European market rules involving the club’s public disclosures and financial information covering the 2020 and 2021 reporting periods. The allegations remain subject to judicial review.

A further legal track concerns Consob decisions issued in October 2022 and October 2023 regarding the presentation of certain transactions in Juventus’ financial statements. The review included 16 player-transfer operations involving exchanges between clubs, as well as salary arrangements and certain buy-back agreements.

Juventus challenged the first decision in December 2022 and filed a separate appeal against the second in December 2023. The proceedings were subsequently consolidated because of their related subject matter. After an earlier hearing date was postponed, the combined case is now scheduled to be heard on December 1, 2027.

The three proceedings illustrate the continuing legal and financial consequences of decisions made during earlier seasons. While the Ronaldo case centres on a salary claim that has already been paid, the Consob disputes concern regulatory penalties and accounting practices. The final outcomes will depend on the courts’ assessments of the arguments presented in each separate case.