South Korean Police Raid Company Over Cristiano Ronaldo Friendly Match No-Show

Seoul Suseo Police Station told South Korean news agency Yonhap that police arrived at The Fasta’s office at about 10 a.m. local time on Thursday, and that officials were investigating the organizer on fraud charges.

According to the The Chosun Ilbo outlet, the raid lasted for roughly four hours, concluding with the seizure of any and all documents related to the July 26 football match.

In a statement issued to the press, The Fasta apologized for the match mishap and noted that it intends to “fully cooperate with the police in their investigation, so that we can hear any concerns and suspicions.” It further indicated that it will file a letter of complaint with Italy-based Juventus FC, the team for which Ronaldo plays, over an alleged breach of contract.

The controversy surrounding the company erupted in late July, when Juventus was scheduled to play a friendly match against a team of K-League All-Stars in Seoul. At the time, The Fasta stressed in its promotions that Ronaldo would play for at least 45 minutes of the match. However, Ronaldo did not play during the game. It was reported after the match that he had been suffering from muscle fatigue.

Rather than watching Ronaldo show off his football skills, fans instead forked over hundreds of dollars to see the Portuguese player simply sit on the sidelines for the duration of the match. More than 65,000 tickets were sold by The Fasta, which relied heavily on Ronaldo’s presence as a ticket seller.