Organizer of Juventus match raided in fraud investigation

By Kang Seung-woo

Police searched the office of an agency that organized a friendly match featuring Juventus in Seoul last month, Thursday, as part of a fraud investigation including Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo.

According to the Suseo Police Station, its investigators searched the office of TheFasta and two other sites at 10 a.m. to secure related documents and information.

“After analyzing the confiscated documents, we plan to swiftly carry out the investigation, including questioning suspects,” a police officer said.

On July 26, the Italian football club played the K League All-Stars at Seoul World Cup Stadium in front of 63,000 football fans, most of whom wanted to watch Ronaldo in action, but he sat out the entire match, citing muscle fatigue and exhaustion.

The agency is claiming its agreement with Juventus guaranteed Ronaldo would “play a minimum of 45 minutes of the match.”

Amid escalating public outcry over Ronaldo's absence, a lawyer filed a complaint with police against the agency, Juventus and Ronaldo on suspicion of “fraud.”

The search came after the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency put a travel ban on the agency chief Robin Jang. In addition, two officials from K League, the governing body of professional football, were also questioned, it added.

Separately, some 5,400 Koreans have decided to join class-action suits against the organizer, demanding it refund their tickets.