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Ronaldo loses 85% of S. Korean fans after friendly no-show 'mental anguish' – survey
Cristiano Ronaldo has seen a staggering decline in support among South Korean fans as local police investigate whether he and Juventus committed a crime after the star failed to appear in a Seoul friendly, according to reports.
The Portuguese ace did not take to the pitch when Juventus faced a K League All-Stars team in the South Korean capital last week, despite an agreement reportedly in place for him to play at least 45 minutes.
READ MORE: South Korean fans sue for ‘mental anguish’ after Ronaldo no-show in friendly
That left more than 60,000 local fans at the Seoul World Cup Stadium devastated, and organizers and supporters’ groups later said they would pursue legal action over the non-appearance.
Juventus hit back by rejecting any claims of wrongdoing or disrespect, with chairman Andrea Agnelli writing to K League president Kwon Oh-gap in an effort to quell the row this week.
Also on rt.com ‘No arrogance or disrespect’: Juve reject South Korea complaints over Ronaldo friendly no-show
But the extent to which the episode appears to have damaged Ronaldo’s reputation in the country has been revealed in a survey in which almost 80 percent of respondents said they would no longer support Juventus or the forward again.
According to The Korea Times, citing a survey by Realmeter, 79 percent of 501 adults asked said they would no longer back the 34-year-old forward – with a mere 9.3 percent offering continued support.
Of the 230 who said they were previously Ronaldo fans, a staggering 85.6 percent said that was no longer the case.
Around a quarter blamed the local K League over the friendly fiasco, while 22.7 percent put the blame at the feet of Ronaldo personally.
A slightly lower proportion blamed Juventus and TheFasta, the agency that organized the match.
The Korea Times also reports that some social media users have been calling for boycotts of products featuring Ronaldo's image as they feel "betrayed."
The news comes amid reports in Spain that police are looking into the possibility that Ronaldo and Juventus broke the law by not fulfilling contractual obligations.
Juve said at the time that Ronaldo had been suffering muscle fatigue so was not able to play, while chairman Agnelli cited a disrupted build-up to the game as also being a factor in his letter to the K League.
Ronaldo enjoys a huge fan base across Asia, previously taking part in promotional tours to China and other parts of the region.
Juventus play their last pre-season warm-up game in Stockholm against Atletico Madrid on Saturday.
