Juventus share price falls due to Ronaldo allegations
The Italian club's share price has taken a dive following the rape allegations by Kathryn Mayorga against Cristiano Ronaldo.
On the field, Juventus may have had the best start to a season in their history, but off the pitch things are not going as smoothly. Last week there was the unexpected resignation of Juve general manager Beppe Marotta, and this week emerged the shocking rape allegations against Cristiano Ronaldo.
American ex-model Kathryn Mayorga has accused the former Real Madrid star of raping her in Las Vega in 2009 and admitted to accepting 375,000 to stay silent on the matter. Supported by the #MeToo movement, Mayorga asked for the case to be reopened and on October 1, Las Vegas police officially opened a new investigation.
The Portuguese footballer has denied the allegations and has remained calm on social media, but his sponsors apparently are not so relaxed. Nike published a statement in which it said it was “deeply concerned” by the allegations, while EA Sports, who made the Juventus striker their cover star for FIFA 19, removed his image from their website and social media channels.
Juventus support
Juventus has shown its support for Ronaldo on social media. “Cristiano Ronaldo has shown in recent months his great professionalism and dedication, which is appreciated by everyone at Juventus,” the club tweeted on Thursday.
The news, however, has not been appreciated by shareholders, with Juventus’ stocks falling 5.4 percent in value yesterday, Italian paper Il Sole 24 Ore reports. Meanwhile, Ronaldo is understood to have hired David Chesnoff, known as the “the lawyer to the stars”, to defend him. During his career, Chesnoff has represented the family of Michael Jackson, Mike Tyson, Shaquille O’Neal and Andre Agassi.
This Saturday Juventus play Udinese, with Ronaldo set to return to action after missing out of the midweek Champions League game due to suspension.
