'호날두 노쇼' 소송 본격적으로 시작,… "티켓값 배상하라"
Thousands of Korean football fans were disappointed and angered last week by superstar Cristiano Ronaldo's decision not to take the field... when his team Juventus played a friendly match against the K-League All-Stars.
Some of them are suing the organizer of the match, saying they didn't get what they paid for.
Our Won Jung-hwan reports.
Frustration and anger have boiled over among many Korean fans.
Christiano Ronaldo stayed on the bench for the entire exhibition match last Friday at a packed Seoul World Cup Stadium.
They had been promised that Ronaldo would play least 45 minutes.
He didn't, so thousands have decided to sue.
Local law firm Myungan says those who bought the expensive tickets were not treated in the way they expected, or deserved, due to Ronaldo's absence from the field.
"Fans bought these expensive tickets because they believed Ronaldo would be playing. And that's why we are demanding compensation, because many fans believe they were cheated."
The law firm says more than 2-thousand-400 people have joined its suit as of Tuesday,… and they expect many more to join as they continue to sign up plaintiffs through next week.
It's not just compensation for the tickets they want. Another law firm is seeking criminal charges of fraud against Ronaldo himself, Juventus and the organizer -- a company called TheFasta -- claiming they misled fans into believing Ronaldo would play.
A prosecutor-turned-attorney claims the agency knew Ronaldo would not play, but hid that information to defraud around 65-thousand fans of over 5 million U.S. dollars.
"I believe there are enough evidence on the case to be stated as fraud,... especially considering that the organizer knew that there was a chance that Ronaldo could not show up during the match. Fraud can be recognized if we can find evidence that the organizer still continued to sell tickets even they knew."
Meanwhile, South Korea's professional football governing body, K League, sent a letter of protest to the Italian champions for violating the contract.
The K League said in a press briefing Tuesday that Juventus threatened to cancel the match if it wasn't shorted or delayed by an hour.
The game was eventually delayed by 57 minutes.
The K League hasn't revealed who made the threat,... but according to some inside reports, it was the legendary Juventus player and its current vice chairman Pavel Nedved.
Won Jung-hwan, Arirang News.
