CELEBRITY
Juventus say prosecutors looking into terms of Ronaldo sale
Juventus (JUVE.MI) said Italian prosecutors had ordered a new search of its offices under an investigation into the Serie A club’s financial accounting and were also examining the terms of the sale of star player Cristiano Ronaldo to Manchester United (MANU.N)
Publishing a supplement to an investor document for a share issue on Thursday, Juventus reiterated that it had always acted in compliance with existing laws and it was fully collaborating with authorities.
Turin prosecutors said last week they were investigating the club and some of its senior managers, including Chairman Andrea Agnelli and Vice President Pavel Nedved, in a case centred around player transfers.
The prosecutors said they were checking whether Turin-based Juventus provided false communications to investors and issued invoices for transactions that never took place.
Italian financial police searched the club’s offices last week to seize documents relating to player transfers between 2019 and 2021.
The latest search mentioned in the investor document was carried out on Thursday, a person with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
Hit hard by the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, Juventus are seeking to raise 400 million euros in cash by selling new shares to cut debt and repair its finances.
In the supplement to the cash call prospectus, Juventus said prosecutors were also looking at its financial statements for the first half of 2021 in relation to Ronaldo’s sale.
In August, Juventus reached an agreement to sell the Portuguese player to Manchester United for 23 million euros ($26 million), including 8 million euros linked to the achievement of specific performance objectives.
Juventus said at the time the deal entailed a 14 million euro hit on its results for the 2020/21 financial year, contributing to a record-high loss of 210 million euros.
A judicial source said prosecutors were checking the accuracy of figures in the club’s financial statement relating to the transaction after a wiretapped conversation between club officials mentioned a document that called into question the fairness of the accounting.
Lawyers for Juventus and its managers said the new search did not reflect new charges being investigated, adding the warrant mentioned a document which had yet to be found.
The club said in the supplement to the share issue document that it did not believe the investigation and the searches constituted a “material adverse change” under a contractual clause that would allow the banking consortium guaranteeing the cash call to withdraw its commitment.
Juventus, one of 12 leading European clubs that made a failed attempt to set up a breakaway European Super League in April to beef up their finances, is controlled by Exor (EXOR.MI), the holding company of Italy’s Agnelli family.
Exor has committed to subscribing to the cash call to keep its 63.8% stake.
Goldman Sachs (GS.N), JP Morgan (JPM.N), Mediobanca (MDBI.MI) e UniCredit CIB (CRDI.MI) are the offer’s joint global coordinators.
Juventus shares were down 0.8% by 1531 GMT on Friday against a flat Italian all-share index (.FTITLMS).
($1 = 0.8854 euros)
-Reuters
Former England soccer captain David Beckham and actor Gary Oldman were knighted in King Charles’ annual birthday honours list on Saturday, while sculptor Antony Gormley was made a Companion of Honour.
Beckham, 50, joined Manchester United as a trainee in 1993, going on to make almost 400 appearances for the club where he won a string of titles and cups.
He subsequently played for Real Madrid, LA Galaxy, and Inter Milan, as well as captaining his country 58 times and making 115 appearances.
His marriage to fashion designer and former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham in 1999 cemented a celebrity status which went far beyond his sporting exploits.
Oldman, 67, started his career on the stage, where he was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, before rising to prominence in film. He won the best actor Oscar for playing Winston Churchill in the 2017 drama “Darkest Hour”.
He also had roles in the “Dark Knight Trilogy” and the “Harry Potter” movie series and more recently starred in the TV spy drama “Slow Horses”.
Other famous names receiving honours included damehoods for musical theatre star Elaine Paige, novelist Pat Barker and ceramics maker Emma Bridgewater.
Roger Daltrey, lead singer of rock band the Who and a patron of the Teenage Cancer Trust, received a knighthood for services to charity.
More than 1,200 people received honours for their achievements, with a particular focus on those who had given their time to public service, the government said.
King Charles’ official birthday will be celebrated with the annual “Trooping the Colour” military parade in London on Saturday. His actual birthday is on November 14
-Reuters
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One of three judges in Diego Maradona’s closely scrutinized homicide trial in Argentina resigned on Tuesday amid a scandal triggered by the alleged filming of an unauthorised documentary, bringing uncertainty to the future of legal proceedings.
The high-profile trial over the death of soccer star Maradona began on March 11 in the South American country where the World Cup winner is still revered.
-Reuters
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For the third year in a row, and the fifth time overall, Cristiano Ronaldo is the world’s highest-paid athlete.
But at age 40, the Portuguese soccer superstar is reaching new highs.
Over the past 12 months, counting both his playing salary at Saudi Arabia’s Al-Nassr and his off-field business endeavors, Ronaldo collected an estimated $275 million before taxes and agent fees—the third-best year by an active athlete ever measured by Forbes.
On that all-time list, Ronaldo is surpassed only by boxer Floyd Mayweather, who earned $300 million in 2015 and $285 million in 2018.
And when it comes to the 2025 leaderboard, Ronaldo has a $119 million advantage over No. 2, Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry.
The League of Wealthy Sportsmen
The gap is especially impressive considering that Curry’s $156 million total is also a record for his sport, beating the NBA mark of $128.2 million set last year by LeBron James.
And there are plenty of other eye-popping paydays among this year’s 10 highest-paid athletes, starting with James, who notched a personal-best $133.8 million to land at No. 6. Meanwhile, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (No. 4, $137million) and New York Mets outfielder Juan Soto (No. 7, $114 million) broke records for the NFL and MLB.
Combined, the 10 highest-paid athletes brought in $1.4 billion, up slightly from last year’s $1.38 billion and the largest total since Forbes began ranking athlete earnings in 1990.
This year is also only the second time, after 2024, that every member of the top 10 made at least $100 million.
In fact, heavyweight boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk ($101 million) and golfer Jon Rahm ($100 million) reached the milestone, too, without managing to crack this list.
For the third year in a row, and the fifth time overall, Cristiano Ronaldo is the world’s highest-paid athlete.
But at age 40, the Portuguese soccer superstar is reaching new highs.
Over the past 12 months, counting both his playing salary at Saudi Arabia’s Al-Nassr and his off-field business endeavors, Ronaldo collected an estimated $275 million before taxes and agent fees—the third-best year by an active athlete ever measured by Forbes.
On that all-time list, Ronaldo is surpassed only by boxer Floyd Mayweather, who earned $300 million in 2015 and $285 million in 2018.
And when it comes to the 2025 leaderboard, Ronaldo has a $119 million advantage over No. 2, Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry.
The gap is especially impressive considering that Curry’s $156 million total is also a record for his sport, beating the NBA mark of $128.2 million set last year by LeBron James.
And there are plenty of other eye-popping paydays among this year’s 10 highest-paid athletes, starting with James, who notched a personal-best $133.8 million to land at No. 6. Meanwhile, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (No. 4, $137million) and New York Mets outfielder Juan Soto (No. 7, $114 million) broke records for the NFL and MLB.
Combined, the 10 highest-paid athletes brought in $1.4 billion, up slightly from last year’s $1.38 billion and the largest total since Forbes began ranking athlete earnings in 1990.
This year is also only the second time, after 2024, that every member of the top 10 made at least $100 million.
In fact, heavyweight boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk ($101 million) and golfer Jon Rahm ($100 million) reached the milestone, too, without managing to crack this list.
World’s Highest-Paid Athletes 2025
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