According to Gazzetta dello Sport, the 2024 arbitration ruling on the salary dispute between Ronaldo and Juventus determined that the Portuguese player was entitled to 9.8 million euros in unpaid wages, roughly half of the amount he claimed. In January of this year, the Turin court confirmed this decision. Now, Juventus has filed an appeal to the third instance.

The legal dispute between Juventus and Ronaldo continues, stemming from the Portuguese player's departure from Turin in 2021 to rejoin Manchester United. The controversy centers on the controversial "salary deferral" agreement during the COVID-19 pandemic. Two previous rulings have favored Ronaldo: the April 2024 arbitration ruling determined that the player was entitled to 9.8 million euros plus interest and inflation adjustments—approximately half of the 19.6 million euros he claimed. This judgment was subsequently confirmed by Turin labor judge Gian Luca Robaldo. Juventus has now announced an appeal to the Supreme Court and is awaiting a court date.

Juventus and the Ronaldo document: background

This dispute dates back to the COVID-19 pandemic, when Juventus reached an agreement with its players to temporarily defer a portion of their monthly salaries. In 2021, Juventus management and Ronaldo reached a settlement through a document—the infamous "Ronaldo document." This document later surfaced in a Turin prosecutor's investigation into Juventus' top management, which ultimately led to the resignation of chairman Andrea Agnelli and the club's board. According to the document, Juventus was supposed to pay 19.5 million euros later as compensation for the deferred portion of the player's pre-tax salary. However, this payment was never made. Wiretaps from the Prisma investigation revealed that Cesare Gabasio, then head of Juventus' legal department, told sporting director Federico Cherubini: "In theory, this written agreement should not exist." Critically, the money was never paid because Ronaldo had already been sold to Manchester United that summer.

Ronaldo's legal dispute with Juventus

On March 23, 2022, the "document" was recovered during a search of lawyer Federico Restano's office in Turin. In September 2023, Ronaldo sued Juventus, but because his signature was not on the document, both parties agreed to resolve the matter through arbitration. A few months later, on April 17, 2024, the arbitration panel—composed of Gianroberto Villa, Leonardo Cantamesa, and Roberto Sacchi—ruled that the Portuguese player should be compensated for half of the amount claimed: 9.8 million euros instead of 19.6 million euros. The panel also rejected claims that Juventus intended to deceive the player and noted that Ronaldo had never requested the money when he departed Italy. Juventus subsequently challenged the ruling, but the Turin court rejected its appeal in January of this year. Juventus noted in its 2025-26 financial statements: "This ruling is limited to reviewing the formal defects of the arbitration award alleged in the appeal, and does not constitute a ruling on the merits of the case. Therefore, it does not alter the conclusions reached by the arbitration award. In any case, the economic and financial impact of the arbitration award has been reflected in the company's accounts since the 2023-24 financial year, so no negative impact is anticipated for the current or future financial statements." Against this judgment, Juventus has filed an appeal to the Supreme Court, officially served on March 27, 2026, and is currently awaiting a court date.

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