RONALDO’s life after football has been anything but boring.
In fact, since hanging up his boots the Brazilian legend has had a colourful existence off the pitch, embarking on a series of intriguing sidelines only a successful sports star with millions in the bank could attempt.
18Ronaldo has played professional poker, bought football clubs and has a sports marketing business
18World Cup winner Ronaldo’s put his millions to good use to live comfortably outside of footballCredit: AP:Associated Press
When the former Real Madrid striker, now 42, retired he became a professional poker player, once winning £30,000 at a professional event in the Bahamas.
And that’s not all. ‘El Fenómeno’ is also Real Valladolid’s majority owner, after he acquired a 51 percent stake in the Spanish club in 2018.
Add to that, a four-year tenure running a race car team, a spot of acting in a popular Brazilian soap opera and learning about advertising from disgraced PR guru Martin Sorrell, and you can see Ronaldo’s put his time to good use since quitting football.
POKER FACE
Officially Brazil’s 734th best poker player, Ronaldo has won around £35k playing poker professionally around the world.
“I love poker because it’s a competition, which I like,” Ronaldo once revealed.
“Since I retired from football, I still enjoy a lot to be in competition. So it’s the same feeling as a football match. It’s great to be in the competition.”
And he’s a dab hand at it too. The World Cup winner cleaned up at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) Main Event in the Bahamas in 2015.
Ronaldo came in 26th place in a field of 816 players, scooping up around £30,o00 in prize money.
“When you talk with your heart, people understand you,” Ronaldo said.
“And I am completely in love with poker.”
18Ronaldo took to playing poker professionallyCredit: Getty – Contributor
18In 2015, Ronaldo won around £30,000 at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) Main Event in the BahamasCredit: Corbis – GettyCLUB OWNER
Last year, Ronaldo returned to Spanish football and became La Liga side Real Valladolid’s majority owner.
He paid previous owner Carlos Suarez around £27 million for that privilege, according to Spanish reports.
Suarez was kept on as President, while Ronaldo was revealed as the biggest stakeholder.
His aim was to ensure that Valladolid, a team that has a habit of yo-yoing from the top division in Spain to the second, cement themselves in La Liga.
“We want Real Valladolid to consolidate in the top flight and keep building hopes from there,” Ronaldo said.
“It will not stop there because we want to grow to where our hopes allow us to.”
Suarez said: “The arrival of Ronaldo puts Valladolid on the map and will allow the club to take a leap forward in quality.
“I welcome him to his home.”
18Ronaldo was announced as the majority stakeholder of Real Valladolid in 2018Credit: AFP or licensors
18A 51 percent stake in Real Valladolid cost Ronaldo a reported £27mCredit: EPAAMERICAN DREAM
But Valladolid fans take note.
In December 2014, Fort Lauderdale Strikers, who once boasted George Best and Gerd Muller on their books, announced that Ronaldo was their new joint owner alongside Paulo Cesso, an education and technology entrepreneur, Ricardo Geromel and Rafael Bertani.
They initially planned on building the brand, immediately taking the team on a tour to China.
There was even a notion that, if he could get fit, the former Barcelona great would lace up his boots and turn out for the NASL club.
However, the dream turned sour in 2016 after a poor season which included players being paid late and their cheques bouncing.
Poor attendances, which dropped from around 12,000 to just 455 spectators, also didn’t help.
The Florida club were put up for sale, before eventually dissolving that same year.
18The now extinct Fort Lauderdale Strikers were the first club Ronaldo was part-owner ofCredit: AP:Associated Press
18Ronaldo’s Florida team dream ended up turning sour and they dissolved after financial difficulties in 2016Credit: Splash NewsSOAP STAR
In 1997, when Ronaldo was at the peak of his powers, he starred in teen Brazilian soap opera Malhação.
His acting skills might not have been the sharpest, but producers ensured he wasn’t taken out of his comfort zone.
The novela, about a fictional gym club, saw Ronaldo coaching the gym’s women’s football team.
Cue an inspiring team talk, and taking on the role of cheerleader from the sidelines.
And if that wasn’t enough, he scored with their top striker for good measure too, copping off with the young talent in one scene.
18Ronaldo appeared in teen Brazilian soap opera Malhação in 1997
18In one scene, Ronaldo gave a women’s football team a rousing team talk
18Later, Ronaldo got close to the team’s top striker
18Romantic Ronaldo wooed the top talent, kissing her in another scene
A1 TEAM BRAZIL
Brazilians have always had a love affair with motor racing, thanks to legends such as Emerson Fittipaldi and Ayrton Senna.
Wanting to get in on the act, Ronaldo set up A1 Team Brazil alongside Fittipaldi in 2005 which competed in the now defunct A1 Grand Prix.
‘Like soccer, A1GP is a team sport. In soccer, we have already won the World Cup five times and it would be wonderful to win the first motor racing world cup as well,” Ronaldo revealed.
However, the team enjoyed limited success – failing to win a championship in their four years, with their best moments being single victories in the sprint and feature races.
They, along with the league, were dissolved in 2009.
18In 2005, Ronaldo set up an A1 Grand Prix team Brazilian with Emerson Fittipaldi
18Ronaldo’s life as a racing team over was short-lived though, with A1 Team Brazil dissolving in 2009PR PROTEGE
In 2013, Ronaldo traded in his party lifestyle to learn about advertising.
For that journey, he enlisted the help of PR guru Sir Martin Sorrell, who took the Brazilian under his wing.
Ronaldo joined his ad firm WPP in London and worked there for a number of months, learning the ropes, as they struck up an unlikely friendship.
“Eighteen years have passed and I’ve hardly studied at all. I feel a great need to become a student again,” Ronaldo said at the time.
“I’ve learned a lot in life, travelling, living abroad, just in the school of life.
“But I also have to immerse myself in something. Learning from Martin will be perfect.”
Sorrell, who is now retired, left WPP in 2018 after 33 years following claims of personal misconduct and misuse of company assets.
He has always denied the allegations.
18Ronaldo is mates with disgraced PR guru Sir Martin SorrellCredit: Times Newspapers Ltd
18Ronaldo spent a few months working with Sorrell at his company WPPCredit: Times Newspapers Ltd9INE
Shortly before Ronaldo leaned on Sorrell for some advertising expertise, he set up a marketing agency in Sao Paulo, Brazil in 2011.
The company, still around today, attracts sponsorships from leading brands to sports stars and figures in the entertainment industry, as well as helps with image planning.
And Ronaldo’s star has attracted some of the world’s biggest hitters, including Neymar Jr and tennis star Rafael Nadal.
However, in 2015 they cut off all ties with the UFC, including looking after the likes of Anderson Silva, Junior dos Santos and Vitor Belfort when the UFC changed its sponsorship model and signed an exclusive deal with Reebok.
Ronaldo called the deal “unfair” to athletes and said in a statement that he, “does not tolerate seeing an organization change its sponsorship funding rules and fighter remuneration — arbitrarily — without taking a stand.”
18Ronaldo set up his own sports marketing agency in 2011 called 9INE, which included UFC fighter Anderson Silva on its booksCredit: Getty – Contributor
18However, after the UFC signed a deal with Reebok Ronaldo and his company severed ties with the organisation in 2015Credit: Getty – Contributor
