Juventus star Cristiano Ronaldo is set to become the first footballer and the third sports person overall to cross career earnings over 1 billion US dollars.
Ronaldo is set to achieve the feat despite a huge 3.8 million Euro wage cut from his current employers Juventus due to the COVID-19 lockdown which has forced all forms of football and other sports fixtures into a standstill in Italy and in most parts of the world.
The reduction, which is estimated to be 30% of his total earning, is not going to make much difference as the Portuguese superstar is still set to get a hefty paycheck of 46 million US dollars at the end of the year from Juventus.
According to Forbes, the cut hardly puts a dent on the Portuguese captain’s annual earnings and he had earned a staggering $109 million last year.
With the CR7 line of underwear and his earnings from various sponsorship deals, the 35-year-old could still earn something close to 100 million US dollars this year as well.
This would take the former Manchester United forward’s total earnings to over 1 billion in the 18th year of his professional career.
The 35-year-old is currently in his hometown of Madeira as the football season in Italy and around the world has been brought to a halt due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Meanwhile, other than Ronaldo, Juventus have reached an understanding with the first team players and the coach after they agreed to cut their wages of four months in order to protect their club from the ongoing crisis caused by the novel coronavirus.
The decision is expected to save the Italian side an estimated amount of 90 million euros amid the COVID-19 pandemic which has wreaked havoc in the country. Italy, which has become the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, has seen more than 15,000 fatalities with over 1, 24,000 affected.