Cristiano Ronaldo earns libel payout from Daily Telegraph
Portuguese international, and Real Madrid superstar, Cristiano Ronaldo has accepted an undisclosed amount in libel damages awarded him by the high court of London in his dispute with
the Daily Telegraph.
The British paper had claimed that in 2008, Ronaldo, while in America for an awards ceremony, had put an injured ankle at risk by dropping his crutches in order to dance with models at a Hollywood nightclub. The paper also alleged that Ronaldo, while at
the night club, had been seen consuming Cristal champagne.
After the court's ruling, Ronaldo issued a statement which said, "I take enormous pride in my professionalism. I treat my training and recovery from injury very seriously and would never have drunk and danced in a nightclub without my crutches."
Ronaldo had been playing for his former club, Manchester United, at the time of the incident and had the support of his former manager Alex Ferugson, who said in a statement that he was prepared to appear on Ronaldo's behalf as a witness and described Ronaldo
as "a consummate professional".
According to Ronaldo's lawyer, Allan Dunlavy, the story ran with the angle that Ronaldo's irresponsible behavior would upset his manager, but Dunlavy pointed out that Manchester United, and its medical staff, had been well aware that Ronaldo had been in
Los Angeles on holiday.
"While he did attend the nightclub in question," Dunlavy said about Ronaldo according to BBC News, "he did not drink any alcohol at all whilst there, nor at any time whilst in Los Angeles. He does not, as a rule, drink alcohol because he takes his health,
fitness and recovery from injury very seriously."
This is not the first time Ronaldo has sought damages from newspapers looking to tarnish his reputation.
A lawyer acting on behalf of the newspaper said the paper had accepted that the allegations were false and should never have been published.
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