Juventus wrongfully take to Twitter to defend Cristiano Ronaldo

Juventus published a series of tweets backing their star signing. However, in an attempt to defend him, the Italian side only added more flame to the fire.

Cristiano Ronaldo is currently being accused of rape allegations stemming from an incident in 2009. While the victim, Kathryn Mayorga, initially, and understandably, decided to sign a non-disclosure agreement, she recently came forward.

While it took a while for Ronaldo to say anything regarding the matter, eventually he did.

To show that they had Ronaldo’s back, Juventus took to Twitter to express their faith in their player.

Needless to say, the response on social media to their defense was not well received.

Juventus were roundly criticized for their tweets because, aside from coming off weird, the tweets do not really give a good reason as to why people should believe, or defend, Ronaldo.

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Their first tweet simply mentions his “dedication” and “professionalism” since he arrived at Juventus. So he did what pretty much 99 percent of all players do.

The second tweet addresses the time frame of when the alleged incident took place and that it does not change the opinion that he’s a great champion. Again, simply because he is “great champion” does not mean that he did not do what he is being accused of.

Juventus would have been better served not making any comment at all if this is the response they were going to put out. Praising an athlete for showing up to train and saying he’s a great champion does nothing for no one.

They want to back their player but there were countless better ways to do it. The club invested a lot of money in him and they’ve already encountered complains from Fiat workers because the Agnelli family, who owns 30 percent of Fiat, asks employees to make sacrifices yet spent a large sum on one player.

The current situation is one that is not solely contained to a sporting environment. The fact of the matter is that one of the world’s most recognizable athletes is facing serious allegations. Just because he won trophies and titles does not make him an ideal citizen.

Juventus could have said “these are serious allegations but we stand behind our player as the legal process unfolds.” That, or no comment, would have been better.

Whether the club decided to do this on their own or at the behest of Ronaldo’s people is unclear but irrelevant. Their two-tweet statement did not serve anyone. It had no regard for the victim and in the end, only made things worse for themselves and their player.