Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo has been implicated in an accounting fraud scam in Italy, with the striker now said to be facing a potential ban if found to be complicit.
Ronaldo's former employers Juventus were recently found guilty of several accounting breaches in relation to historic transfer dealings.
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In addition to the club's entire board of directors resigning in November, including former president Andrea Agnelli and vice-president Pavel Nedved, the Serie A giants have been docked 15 points in the league as a result of the guilty verdict.
According to The Sun, as many as 22 players, including the five-time Ballon d'Or winner, Giorgio Chiellini, and Paulo Dybala, were paid millions in deferred wages off the books at Juve in this accounting scheme.
Following an investigation by Italian authorities, Ronaldo is believed to have been paid a hefty £79.5 million (R1.6 billion), a far cry from the £17.2 million (R365 million) in deferred wages he was reported to have agreed to during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Should it be proved the Al Nassr marksman knowingly took part in the scheme, he and all those who deemed complicit in the act will be slapped with a 30-day suspension from Italian football.
This comes after Ronaldo recently completed a two-match suspension that delayed his official debut for his new club in the Middle East.
It is further reported that Tottenham Hotspur director of football Fabio Paratici, who was handed a massive ban from football last week, was one of the masterminds behind the Bianconeri scam.
An Italian court gave the executive a two-and-a-half year suspension for his wrongdoing, which is said to have gone on over three seasons.
The English Football Association is now likely to be requested by Italian authorities to implement the suspension on Paratici, but the FA is said to be unclear as to whether or not the sanction should be automatically applied or if they should wait on a directive from FIFA on the matter.
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The sophisticated scheme also included inflating transfer fees when dealing with other Serie A clubs in order for the Old Lady to create millions in capital gains for tax purposes.
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