Ronaldo agrees with slavery remarks

Updated 08.50 Fri Jul 11 2008

Cristiano Ronaldo, who reportedly earns £120,00 per week, has sensationally backed Fifa president Sepp Blatter's condemnation of what he sees as "modern slavery" in the game.

The Portuguese forward, who has failed to commit himself to Manchester United and given mixed messages about Real's obvious interest, has now supported Mr Blatter's stand, but refused to shed any more light on the proposed transfer.

He said: "I agree with Mr Blatter's comments - what he said is right."

In an interview with a Portuguese channel, he said: "I agree with Mr Blatter's comments - what he said is right.

"At the moment there is no agreement with Real Madrid.

"We have to wait for the next few days to see, but I do not know where I will begin next season - this is all I have to say at the moment."

When asked about the tortuous transfer saga involving Cristiano Ronaldo, Manchester United and Real Madrid, Mr Blatter insisted players should be allowed to play where they wanted and pinpointed a trend towards "slavery" in clubs' transfer dealings.

Professional Footballers' Association chairman Chris Powell refuted those suggestions and called for him to retract the comments, while UEFA reacted by highlighting the spiralling wage demands of players.

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