One of the biggest stars of the most popular sport in the world is being sued in a class action lawsuit over his involvement with Binance non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
According to a new Associated Press report, Portuguese soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo (CR7) is on the receiving end of a $1 billion class-action lawsuit for promoting NFTs issued on Binance.
Last November, CR7 and the world’s largest crypto exchange by trading volume teamed up on an NFT partnership ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
“Together with Ronaldo, we’ve planned an unrivaled NFT roadmap. For the first time ever, fans and collectors will have unprecedented access to the legend, from owning a piece of his footballing career to Binance-exclusive fan prizes and experiences.”
According to a Binance announcement, the partnership produced its second line of NFTs in June of this year called the ‘ForeverCR7 – The GOAT’ NFT collection.
Said CR7 at the time,
“It is great to have the opportunity to collaborate again with Binance on this project for my fans, especially those that have cheered me on since those early goals. Creating this collection and reflecting back on my career highlights has been very rewarding, and I can’t wait to see the response to the collection…”
A class-action lawsuit was probably not the response Ronaldo had hoped for.
According to ESPN, the lawsuit was filed in South Florida and alleges CR7 unlawfully and deceptively promoted Binance and its products. According to the suit, Ronaldo’s promotion of Binance was highly successful, with the first collection of NFTs selling out in a week.
Says the suit,
“Evidence now reveals that Binance’s fraud was only able to reach such heights through the offer and sale of unregistered securities, with the willing help and assistance of some of the wealthiest, powerful and recognized organizations and celebrities across the globe — just like Defendant Ronaldo.”
CR7’s camp has yet to issue a statement. However, as recently as November 28th, Ronaldo has promoted Binance to his 110.3 million followers on the social media platform X.
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