FOOTBALL fans in South Korea have launched legal action demanding compensation after Cristiano Ronaldo failed to play for Juventus in a pre-season friendly.

Ronaldo sat out the match against a K League All Stars side in Seoul last week despite organisers claiming he had been contracted to appear for at least 45 minutes.

1 South Korean fans are suing for £46m after Cristiano Ronaldo failed to play against K League All Stars in Seoul Credit: AFP or licensors

And now furious supporters have instructed a lawyer to sue for compensation after claiming they had been hoodwinked into buying a ticket to watch their hero.

Kim Min-ki has now been tasked with demanding match organiser The Fasta Inc repay as many as 60,000 supporters plus compensation, a bill which could top £46million.

Kim said: "Many purchased tickets to see Ronaldo. The Fasta publicised that the company had a deal with Juventus which stipulated Ronaldo would play for at least 45 minutes and that Ronaldo would hold a fan signing event.

"Normally in such cases the plaintiffs will be refunded the price of the tickets, but I put this under a special case since the company, through false advertising, took advantage of the football star's fans.

MENTAL ANGUISH

"For now we have two plaintiffs who sued the company, but I have been getting a lot of calls today and I assume there will be some 60,000 more."

The lawsuit is claiming £48 per ticket, 70p for the commission fee and a further £696 each in compensation for "mental anguish".

Kim added: "As for the mental anguish part, I'd like to say some of them are raucous fans, the real avid fans.

"So for them it is very painful because they love Ronaldo and want to protect him, but they can't, given the situation."

The Fasta CEO Robin Chang insists the contract with Juve stipulated Ronaldo play 45 minutes.

She said: "When I went to argue with (Pavel) Nedved, the vice president of Juventus, all he said was 'I also wish Ronaldo ran, but he doesn't want to. Sorry, there's nothing I can do.' I was so frustrated."

Juventus manager Maurizio Sarri says his star forward did not play because he was suffering muscle fatigue.

Sarri said: "I spoke to Adrea Agnelli and Ronaldo before the game and we concluded that it'd be best to rest him."