Cristiano Ronaldo will not play in El Clasico in Miami
By Jack Crosby
Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo will not be taking part in El Clasico in Miami on Saturday night against rival Barcelona
Saturday night down in Miami, Florida should be quite the spectacle, as soccer fans here in the United States will be treated to an El Clasico matchup between Spanish clubs Real Madrid and Barcelona. With an event like this, everyone will be turning out in the stadium and tuning in on their television screens to see some of the best players in the world, however, Cristiano Ronaldo will not be one of the stars people are going to see.
On Friday, just a little over 24 hours until the matchup, it was announced by reps for Ronaldo that he would not be able to make the trip over to the United States to go at it with Barcelona, as personal commitments will cause him to stay in Spain for the time being.
“Unfortunately, Ronaldo’s personal commitments precluded him from being here,” Charlie Stillitano, chairman of Relevent Sports, told the Miami Herald. “He really wanted to be here. This is not a diva situation. He was hoping that he could make it. He waited until today to let us know, but it just didn’t work out. Mr. Ross did everything possible to get him here, and Cristiano said he was very grateful for that. I’m extremely disappointed, but we still have the two best teams and the top stars minus one.”
Of course, it’s not that difficult to decipher what the “personal commitments” are in this situation. As everyone knows, Ronaldo is dealing with some tax issues in Spain and has to testify at a trial coming at the end of the month. The issues became so bad that there were recently rumors the Spanish star wanted to leave the country because he felt he was being persecuted with the tax evasion claims brought against him.
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Miami Dolphins owner and founder of the International Champions Cup, Stephen Ross, appeared on ESPN Friday night to discuss Ronaldo not making the trip over to the states for the much-anticipated event.
It’s definitely disappointing for fans not to be able to see maybe the greatest player in the world here in the United States in one of the best soccer matches one could see between these two clubs, but you can certainly understand why he needs to stay in Spain at this time.