Cristiano Ronaldo has suffered a legal blow after the judge presiding over the $1 billion class action lawsuit against the soccer star denied his motion to dismiss the case.
The Portuguese sports star is being sued in Florida for promoting Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world. The plaintiffs claim that Ronaldo's endorsement had led them into making costly and unsafe investments.
On May 4, Judge Roy Altman ruled, following a request from the plaintiffs, to stay proceedings pending a ruling on a motion to compel arbitration. At the same time, Judge Altman wrote, "We deny without prejudice the Defendant's 29 motion to dismiss."
Newsweek emailed Ronaldo's publicist for comment Tuesday.
The Context
Binance announced a collection of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in partnership with Ronaldo in November 2022 called "CR7." This stands for Ronaldo's initials and shirt number, which he has used to brand a range of products over the years.
Ronaldo said the NFT would reward fans "for all the years of support" and in a video announcing the partnership, he told potential investors that "we are going to change the NFT game and take football to the next level."
The soccer star has promoted Binance a variety of times on social media, with his Instagram bio reading at the time of writing: "Join my NFT journey on @Binance. Click the link below to get started."
He promoted Binance on his Instagram account twice in March, the first time writing: "#Binance gave me the challenge of taking on @anamxrkovic in a game of foosball, with a twist! Coming soon."
The second time the soccer player wrote: "Had a lot of fun with @binance! Click the link in my stories to watch me compete against @anamxrkovic in a game of foosball."
He also promoted the company in January where, alongside a video posted to his account, he wrote: "Had an amazing time with @binance, creating the next level of fan-experience. Thanks to my ForeverCR7 NFT collection, I got to meet and train with the holders of my rarest NFTs."
The plaintiffs are seeking damages of "a sum exceeding" $1 billion.
What We Know
The plaintiffs suing Ronaldo asked for the case to be stayed for arbitration—which is when a third party looks into the dispute and makes a binding decision. This has been granted by Judge Altman, who has also denied Ronaldo's motion to dismiss.
"PAPERLESS ORDER granting the Plaintiffs' 32 Unopposed Motion to Stay Proceedings. Accordingly, we direct the Clerk of Court to CLOSE and STAY this case until we have adjudicated the pending motions to compel arbitration in the related action, Sizemore et al. v. Zhao et al., No. 23-CV-21261 (S.D. Fla.) (Altman, J.)," the paperless order states.
"In the meantime, we DENY without prejudice the Defendant's 29 Motion to Dismiss or, in the Alternative, to Compel Arbitration."
Update 5/7/24, 8:56 a.m. ET: This article was updated with further information.
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About the writer
Billie is a Newsweek Pop Culture and Entertainment Reporter based in London, U.K. She reports on film and TV, trending ... Read more
