Manchester United footballer Cristiano Ronaldo has started libel proceedings over a newspaper article alleging he was fined £8,000 (€10,506) in one day for using his mobile phone during training.
Top London law firm Schillings announced that it has issued libel proceedings at the High Court against News Group Newspapers, owners of The Sun.
The libel claim follows publication of an article headed “Text-Mad Ronaldo fined £8k, Fergie’s Fury on phone ban. Exclusive”, which alleged that the footballer was fined £8,000 in one day by his manager, Alex Ferguson, for using his mobile phone four times during training.
Simon Smith, Ronaldo’s solicitor in London, said: “Our client is a professional footballer who takes his training very seriously.
“The Sun article wrongly accuses him of being unprofessional and he felt he had to take legal action in order to protect his reputation.” [Iol]
So… the ‘phone addication’ story is not true then?
Cristiano Ronaldo was fined £8000 in one day by Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson… for using his mobile phone during training.
The 23-year-old Portuguese winger was caught texting four times during a single session at the club’s Carrington complex.
Strict Fergie, 66, is tightening the screw on players who are not completely focused during the club’s midweek preparation.
He has been hitting his stars in the pocket with on-the-spot £2,000 penalties for every offence.
A United source said: “The players all respect Sir Alex’s discipline. He is not a man to be messed with.
“But a few of the players have been sneaking their mobile phones on to the training pitch to send the odd text message between sessions.
“Fergie and his assistants have been cracking down on it big time recently. They insist that mobiles stay in lockers and should not be used until training is finished.”
[Thesun]
Sir Alex Ferguson has promised Cristiano Ronaldo a bumper pay rise if the free-scoring Manchester United winger can fire 13 more Premier League goals - giving him 30 for the season.
Ronaldo continued his remarkable goalscoring run with two in United’s 3-1 fourth-round FA Cup tie against Tottenham on Sunday, to take his tally for the season to 25 in 27 games.
He has 17 goals in the Premier League, five in the Champions League and three in the FA Cup.
Although boss Fergie believes it is unlikely his Portuguese attacker will hit the 30- goal mark in the Premier League this season, he has promised the £110,000-a-week star even more money if he reaches the milestone.
[Mirror]
Cristiano Ronaldo has been challenged by Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson to hit 30 goals this season.
The Portuguese winger has already scored 23 times in all competitions this campaign for the reigning Premier League champions and heads the top-flight scoring table with 17 goals.
“With Ronaldo having scored 23 goals already, there is the potential for him to score 30 this season without question,” Ferguson said.
“He is not that far off and he has a strong chance of doing that.
“I’m sure that he is capable of scoring 30 league goals, though I think that is a different matter entirely.
“Achieving that would be more difficult and I don’t think that will happen. It is a big ask, but if he does manage it, I’ll pay him more money.”
[Skysports]
Manchester United chief executive David Gill insists the club would never sell Cristiano Ronaldo, amid reports Real Madrid are lining up a £50m offer.
“There’s no chance of us selling him, no way, whatever the bid,” he said.
“Cristiano signed a new contract last season to 2012 and we are not a selling club. (Manager) Alex Ferguson has never let a player go he didn’t want to.
“He is happy here. Alex knows Ronaldo’s mind and what he’s about - everything about him is Manchester United.”
[BBC]
Manchester United showed no mercy for their former captain Roy Keane as they crashed his side, Sunderland 4-0 at the Stadium of Light.
United started without some of their key players, but they proved too much to handle for the Black Cats. Sunderland started the game decently and had a few chances, but couldn’t threaten United’s keeper. Experience tells that it would mean deep trouble for Sunderland, as United would be ready to pounce on when they started to control the rhythm of the game.
The Red Devils didn’t need to wait long, as Wayne Rooney scored the opener on 20th minute from a wonderful pass by Wes Brown. Rooney then turned provider on 30th minute… his cross found Louis Saha and the French didn’t waste the chance to make it 2-0.
Cristiano Ronaldo then sealed the game for United just before the half time whistle to make it 3-0.
The game was still very much under United’s control at the 2nd half… Alex Ferguson even had the luxury to substitute Ronaldo on 59th minute with Park Ji-sung, who was playing his first competitive game of the season after his operation.
Louis Saha’s 86th minute penalty was very much icing on the cake. Manchester United claimed the top spot and would stay there for at least a few days as Arsenal had only managed a draw with Portsmouth in a later match.
Cristiano Ronaldo was sent off in United’s EPL match against Portsmouth, which ended in a 1-1 draw at Fratton Park.
2 draws in a row for Manchester United… the season is still early, but it’s not spelling good for the Red Devils.
To make thing worse, Ronaldo’s headbutt and the red card means that he is going to miss the next match for sure, and is almost certain that he will miss another 2 more matches after FA revealing the incident.
With Wayne Rooney (and a few others) already out of injury, Ronaldo’s suspension is going to cause some real headache for United manager Alex Ferguson.
This is the red-card incident video, not very clear though…