'호날두 노쇼' 소송 본격적으로 시작,… "티켓값 배상하라"<br /><br />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.<br />Some of them are suing the organizer of the match, saying they didn't get what they paid for.<br />Our Won Jung-hwan reports.<br />Frustration and anger have boiled over among many Korean fans.<br />Christiano Ronaldo stayed on the bench for the entire exhibition match last Friday at a packed Seoul World Cup Stadium.<br />They had been promised that Ronaldo would play least 45 minutes.<br />He didn't, so thousands have decided to sue.<br />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.<br />"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."<br />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.<br />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.<br />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.<br />"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."<br />Meanwhile, South Korea's professional football governing body, K League, sent a letter of protest to the Italian champions for violating the contract.<br />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.<br />The game was eventually delayed by 57 minutes.<br />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.<br />Won Jung-hwan, Arirang News.<br />
