The Cristiano Ronaldo “will-he, won’t he” transfer saga is likely to run on for some time yet.
No action will be taken against Real Madrid following Manchester United’s lodging of an official complaint over Real’s pursuit of star player Cristiano Ronaldo, FIFA has said.
World football’s governing body may not have taken official action against the Spanish giants, however Real were warned of what might happen should they be seen to encourage Ronaldo to terminate his contract at Old Trafford.
It was explained by FIFA that Madrid had not in fact breached any regulations following United’s decision to report Real last week.
Real have reportedly offered Ronaldo 300,000 pounds a week (586,000 dollars) after tax to move to the Bernabeu and would pay United a world record transfer fee to complete the deal.
FIFA’s statement on Monday read: “We can confirm that we received last week a formal complaint from Manchester United related to the player Cristiano Ronaldo and the club Real Madrid. From the documentation received, no breach of contract appears to have occurred yet.
Therefore, in accordance with the applicable practice, no kind of formal procedure has been opened by FIFA regarding this matter.
The Spanish Football Federation has been informed of the complaint lodged by the English club and been asked to remind its member club Real Madrid about the potential legal consequences of a breach of contract without just cause during the protected period and of a possible inducement to such a breach of contract, as established by the FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players.”
Real coach Bernd Schuster has made no secret of the fact that Ronaldo is a prime target for next season, which prompted Manchester to first say they may report Real.
United coach Alex Ferguson accused the Spanish outfit of lacking morale fibre in the way they have unsettled Ronaldo.
Ronaldo was quoted on Brazilia website Terra in early June as saying he would like to play at Madrid provided they had the financial muscle to pay what the Red Devils wanted.
Then Madrid president Ramon Calderon got in on the act and was quoted in Spanish newspaper AS as saying: “For Madrid it is an honour to know that a player like him thinks that playing at Real would be good. We are proud to know that he would like to be with us.”
Though Ronaldo said he will not speak about the affair before the end of the Euro 2008 tournament where he is playing for Portugal, he did say he had not so far made a definite decision about his next career step.
Ronaldo has also still not stated clearly and unambiguously that his future lies at United, even though his contract links him with the club for another four years.
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