CRISTIANO RONALDO

Demand for a replica Ronaldo jersey has been high throughout his career. In 2008, Ronaldo's number 7 Manchester United jersey was the best-selling sports product under the auspices of the Premier League.[479] In 2015, Ronaldo's number 7 Real Madrid jersey was the second best-selling jersey worldwide, after Messi's number 10 Barcelona jersey.[480] In 2018, within 24 hours of his number 7 Juventus jersey being released, over 520,000 had been sold, with $62.4 million generated in one day.[481]

Ronaldo opened his first fashion boutique under the name CR7 (his initials and shirt number) on the island of Madeira, Portugal, in 2006. Ronaldo expanded his business with a second clothes boutique in Lisbon in 2008.[482] In partnership with Scandinavian manufacturer JBS Textile Group and the New York fashion designer Richard Chai, Ronaldo co-designed a range of underwear and sock line, released in November 2013.[483] He later expanded his CR7 fashion brand by launching a line of premium shirts[484] and shoes by July 2014.[485] In September 2015, Ronaldo released his own fragrance, "Legacy", in a partnership with Eden Parfums.[486]

In 2007, C.D. Nacional renamed its youth campus Cristiano Ronaldo Campus Futebol (Cristiano Ronaldo Football Campus).[487] In December 2013, Ronaldo opened a museum, Museu CR7, in his hometown of Funchal, Madeira, to house trophies and memorabilia of his life and playing career;[488] the museum is an official sponsor of the local football team União da Madeira.[489][490] At a ceremony held at the Belém Palace in January 2014, President of Portugal Aníbal Cavaco Silva raised Ronaldo to the rank of Grand Officer of the Order of Prince Henry, "to distinguish an athlete of world renown who has been a symbol of Portugal globally, contributing to the international projection of the country and setting an example of tenacity for future generations".[491] A bronze statue of Ronaldo, designed by artist Ricardo Madeira Veloso, was unveiled in Funchal on 21 December 2014.[492]

In June 2010, during the build-up to the World Cup, Ronaldo became the fourth footballer – after Steven Gerrard, Pelé and David Beckham – to be represented as a waxwork at Madame Tussauds London.[493] Another waxwork of him was presented at the Madrid Wax Museum in December 2013.[494] In June 2015, astronomers led by David Sobral from Lisbon and Leiden discovered a galaxy which they named Cosmos Redshift 7 (CR7) in tribute to Ronaldo.[495][496]

On 23 July 2016, following Portugal's triumph at Euro 2016, Madeira Airport in Funchal was renamed as Cristiano Ronaldo International Airport.[497] The unveiling of the rebranded terminal took place on 29 March 2017, which included a bust of his head being presented.[498] The bust and the name change were controversial, with the lack of the bust's likeness to Ronaldo being ridiculed by comedians, including Saturday Night Live,[499] while the name change was subject to much debate locally by some politicians and citizens, who even started a petition against the move, an action criticised by President of Madeira Miguel Albuquerque.[500][498] A year later, sports website Bleacher Report commissioned sculptor Emanuel Santos to create another bust.[501] However, this bust was never used; instead, a new one was made by a Spanish sculptor, shown to the public on 15 June 2018.[502]

In February 2020, the United Arab Emirates awarded a golden visa to Ronaldo, under the Dubai Sports Council initiative to connect global players, and to encourage them to live and invest in the UAE.[503]

Ronaldo has four children. He first became a father to a son, Cristiano Jr., born on 17 June 2010 in the United States.[504] He stated that he has full custody of the child and would not be publicly revealing the identity of the mother as per agreement with her.[505][506] In January 2015, Ronaldo announced his five-year relationship with Russian model Irina Shayk had ended.[507]

Ronaldo then became father to twins, daughter Eva and son Mateo, born on 8 June 2017 in the United States via surrogacy.[508] He is in a relationship with Spanish model Georgina Rodríguez, a former shop assistant,[509] who gave birth to their daughter Alana Martina, on 12 November 2017.[510]

Ronaldo's father, José, died of an alcoholism-related liver condition at age 52 in September 2005 when Ronaldo was 20.[511][512] Ronaldo has said that he does not drink alcohol,[513] and he received libel damages over a Daily Telegraph article that reported him drinking heavily in a nightclub while recovering from an injury in July 2008.[514] He also does not have any tattoos as he regularly donates blood and bone marrow.[515] His mother, Dolores, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007, but eventually recovered.[516]

Ronaldo has made contributions to various charitable causes throughout his career. Television footage of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami showed an eight-year-old boy survivor named Martunis wearing a Portuguese football shirt who was stranded for 19 days after his family was killed. Following this, Ronaldo visited Aceh, Indonesia, to raise funds for rehabilitation and reconstruction.[517][518] After accepting undisclosed damages from a libel case against The Sun newspaper in 2008, Ronaldo donated the damages to a charity in Madeira.[519] In 2009, Ronaldo donated £100,000 to the hospital that saved his mother's life in Madeira following her battle with cancer, so that they could build a cancer centre on the island.[520] In support of the victims of the 2010 Madeira flood, Ronaldo pledged to play in a charity match in Madeira between Primeira Liga club Porto and players from Madeiran-based clubs Marítimo and Nacional.[521]

In 2012, Ronaldo and his agent paid for specialist treatment for a nine-year-old Canarian boy with apparently terminal cancer.[522] In December 2012, Ronaldo joined FIFA's "11 for Health" programme to raise awareness amongst kids of how to steer clear of conditions including drug addiction, HIV, malaria and obesity.[523] In January 2013, Ronaldo became Save the Children's new Global Artist Ambassador, in which he hopes to help fight child hunger and obesity.[524] In March, Ronaldo agreed to be the ambassador for The Mangrove Care Forum in Indonesia, an organisation aiming to raise awareness of mangrove conservation.[525]

Ronaldo was named the world's most charitable sportsperson in 2015 after donating £5 million to the relief effort after the earthquake in Nepal which killed over 8,000 people.[526] In June 2016, Ronaldo donated the entirety of his €600,000 Champions League bonus after Real Madrid won the 2015–16 UEFA Champions League.[526] In August 2016, Ronaldo launched CR7Selfie, a selfie app for charity to help Save the Children that lets participants take a selfie with him in one of several different outfits and poses.[527] In the app, fans can select from among 68 photos of Ronaldo in different outfits and poses, and scroll through 39 filters to apply to their selfies.[528]

In July 2017, Ronaldo was charged with fraudulently evading almost €15 million in tax between 2011 and 2014, a claim he denied at the time.[529] In June 2018, Ronaldo was given a two-year suspended jail sentence and fined €18.8 million, later reduced to €16.8 million after reaching a deal with Spanish authorities. The sentence can be served under probation, without any jail time, so long as he does not re-offend.[530]

Ronaldo and another man were investigated by the British Crown Prosecution Service after a 2005 rape allegation was brought forward by two women. Within days, the two women withdrew their allegation and Scotland Yard later issued a statement declaring there was not enough evidence for a prosecution.[531] In April 2017, it was reported that Ronaldo was being investigated for a rape allegation by the Las Vegas Police Department originating in 2009.[532][533] Documents, confirmed by Ronaldo's lawyers, state that Ronaldo paid a woman US$375,000 in a non-disclosure settlement.[532][534] Ronaldo and his lawyers issued a lengthy statement denying all accusations, describing them as an "intentional defamation campaign" with parts significantly "altered and/or completely fabricated",[535][536] a claim which Der Spiegel categorically denied.[537] In July 2019, Las Vegas prosecutors said they would not charge Ronaldo over allegations of rape; the statement added: "Based upon a review of information at this time, the allegations of sexual assault against Cristiano Ronaldo cannot be proven beyond a reasonable doubt."[538]