In cable television, governments apply a must-carry regulation stating that locally-licensed television stations must be carried on a cable provider's system.

North America[link]

Canada[link]

In the mid to late 1970s, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) implemented a rule that a cable system must carry a terrestrial TV channel at no cost to the terrestrial broadcaster so long as the transmitter emitted at least 5w EIRP. This CRTC rule may have changed over the years, but in principle a 1 kW EIRP terrestrial TV station must be carried. The status of terrestrial digital only channels with respect to the must-carry requirement is untested as, unlike the US, very little ATSC is on-air in Canada as of 2008^[update] and the few channels active are merely HDTV versions of existing analog programming in major centres such as Toronto and Vancouver with no additional digital subchannels offered.

CITY-TV of Toronto (according to its own website and annual reports) owes its financial success as an independent TV station to this CRTC must-carry rule. It is assumed that this must-carry rule was aimed at small TV stations in Ontario and Quebec, many of which are not carried by satellite television providers.

For many years, the Canadian must-carry rules created very little friction between terrestrial broadcasters and cable systems, as cable systems are allowed to more aggressively implement other digital telecommunications services (like cable internet services and IP telephony) with less overall regulation than their US counterparts. However, in 2008, Canada's two largest commercial television networks, CTV and Global, began to demand that the CRTC permit them to charge a fee for cable carriage, even alleging that some smaller market stations would be forced to close if this was not allowed.

United States[link]

In the United States, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulates this area of business and public policy.^[1] These rules were upheld in a 5-4 decision by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1997 in the case Turner Broadcasting v. FCC (95-992). The United States was the first country to implement a must-carry scheme.

Although cable TV service providers routinely carried local affiliates of the major broadcast networks, independent stations and affiliates of minor networks were sometimes not carried, on the premise it would allow cable providers to instead carry non-local programming which they felt would attract more customers to their service.

Many cable operators were also equity owners in these cable channels, especially TCI, then the nation's largest multiple system operator (MSO), and had moved to replace local channels with equity-owned programming (at the time, TCI held a large stake in Discovery Communications). This pressure was especially strong on cable systems with limited bandwidth for channels.

The smaller local broadcasters argued that by hampering their access to this increasing segment of the local television audience, this posed a threat to the viability of free-to-view broadcast television, which they argued was a worthy public good.

Local broadcast stations also argued cable systems were attempting to serve as a "gatekeeper" in competing unfairly for advertising revenue. Some affiliates of major networks also feared that non-local affiliates might negotiate to provide television programming to local cable services to expand their advertising market, taking away this audience from local stations, with similar negative impact on free broadcast television.

Although cable providers argued that such regulation would impose an undue burden on their flexibility in selecting which services would be most appealing to their customers, the current "must-carry" rules were enacted by the U.S. Congress in 1992 (via the Cable Television Protection and Competition Act), and the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the rules in rejecting the arguments of the cable industry and programmers in the majority decision authored by Justice Anthony Kennedy. That decision also held that MSOs were functioning as a vertically integrated monopoly.

A side effect of the must-carry rules is that broadcast networks cannot charge the cable TV companies license fees for the program content retransmitted on the cable network, except potentially as a part of retransmission consent agreements in lieu of must-carry.

Exceptions[link]

There are a few exceptions, most notably:

• Must-carry may only be applied if the television station wants to be carried under this provision. This only applies to non-commercial educational (NCE) stations. Station operators are allowed to demand payment from cable operators, or negotiate private agreements for carriage, or threaten revocation against the cable operator (see Sinclair, Time Warner Cable). Must-carry is a privilege given to television stations, not a cable company. A cable company cannot use must-carry to demand the right to carry an OTA station against the station's wishes.
• A station does not have distribution under must-carry legislation until a certain number of days after it provides usable signal to the headend for the cable or satellite provider; the station must pay the expense of leased lines to reach providers such as Colorado-based Dish Network or California-based DirecTV.
• Foreign signals, such as Windsor stations or McAllen's Fox affiliate (XHRIO-TV), are not required to be carried, but are often carried on border-area cable systems close to the foreign stations.
• Most low-power broadcast stations are not required to be carried, although often in these cases they are bundled to be carried as part of a retransmission consent agreement with a full-power sister station.

Digital must-carry[link]

Digital must-carry — also incorrectly called "dual must-carry" — is the requirement that cable companies carry either the analog (in an analog & digital cable system) or digital (in a digital-only TV system like AT&T U-verse or Verizon FiOS) signal. They must still meet the every-subscriber/TV receiver laws, i.e. "Pursuant to Section 614(b)(7) and 615(h), the operator of a cable system is required to ensure that signals carried in fulfillment of the must-carry requirements are provided to EVERY subscriber of the system,” of local stations. This has been opposed by numerous cable networks, who might be bumped off of digital cable were this to happen, and promoted by TV stations and the National Association of Broadcasters, whom it would benefit by passing their HDTV or multichannel DTV signals through to their cable viewers.^{[citation needed]} In June, 2006 the FCC was poised to pass new digital must-carry rules, but the item was pulled before a vote actually took place, apparently due to insufficient support for the chairman's position.^{[citation needed]}

In September, 2007, the Commission approved a regulation that requires cable systems to carry the analog signals if the cable system uses both types of transmission. They left the decision to also retransmit the digital signal up to the cable provider. Digital only operators are not required to provide an analog signal for their customers (AT&T U-verse, Verizon FiOS). Small cable operators were allowed to request a waiver. The regulation will end three years after the digital TV transition date, and applies only to stations not opting for retransmission consent.

Cable operators (analog & digital) that transmit more than 12 channels need only provide a maximum 1/3 of their total channel size to this must-carry requirement. Thus with about 150 channels available to a 1 GHz operator, they are only required to support up to 50 analog channels (42 for 850 MHz, 36 for 750 MHz). Cable provider who decide to scale back their analog selection merely need provide written notification on their bill (or equivalent) for 30 days prior to their change. Customers already using digital cable set top boxes will usually be unaffected (if anything after the change they may get a huge number of additional channels because each analog channel can be replaced by 2-12 digital channels). The requirement only applies to must-carry stations; most metro providers carry many more analog stations by choice, not law.

Other networks[link]

A variation of "must-carry" also applies to DBS services like DirecTV and Dish, as first mandated by the Satellite Home Viewer Act of 1988. They are not required to carry local stations in every metro area in which they provide service, but must carry all of an area's local stations if they carry any at all. Sometimes, these will be placed on spot beams: narrowly-directed satellite signals targeted to an area of no more than a few hundred miles diameter, in order to allow the transponder frequencies to be re-used in other markets. In some cases, stations of lower perceived importance are placed on "side satellites" which require a second antenna. This practice has raised some controversy within the industry, leading to the requirement that the satellite provider offer to install any extra dish antenna hardware for free and place a notice to this effect in place of any missing channels.

Retransmission consent[link]

If a broadcaster elects retransmission consent, there is no obligation for the cable system to carry the signal.^[2] This option allows broadcasters who own popular stations, such as CBS, NBC and ABC or Fox to request cash or other compensation from cable or satellite providers for signals. These networks have usually attempted to gain further distribution of cable services and/or co-owned low power television stations in which they also hold an equity position rather than direct cash compensation, which cable systems have almost universally balked at paying. In some cases, these channels have been temporarily removed from distribution by systems who felt broadcasters were asking too steep a price for their signal. Examples include the removal of all CBS-owned local stations plus MTV, VH1 and Nickelodeon from DISH Network for two days in 2004, and the removal of ABC-owned stations from Time Warner Cable for a little under a day in 2000.

In the U.S. retransmission consent has often been chosen over must-carry by the major commercial television networks. Under the present rules, a new agreement is negotiated every three years, and stations must choose must-carry or retransmission consent for each cable system they wish their signal to be carried on. Non-commercial stations (such as local PBS stations) may not seek retransmission consent and may only invoke must-carry status.^[3]

See also[link]

• Significantly viewed

Europe[link]

Republic of Ireland[link]

In Ireland, cable, MMDS and satellite companies have Comreg regulated "must-carry" stations. For cable companies, this covers RTÉ One, RTÉ Two, TV3 and TG4.

The same rules apply to digital MMDS. Analogue MMDS companies are required to carry only TV3 due to serious bandwidth limitations.

Czech republic[link]

In the Czech republic all TV stations with terrestrial licence (analog or digital) have to be in the lowest (cheapest) offer of all cable, IPTV and satellite companies.

Must-carry regulations is applied to:

• All channels of Czech Television - ČT1, ČT2, ČT24 and ČT4 (sport)
• All channels of TV Prima - Prima, Prima Cool and R1 TV
• Two of three channels of TV Nova - Nova and Nova Cinema
• New digital TV stations - TV Barrandov and Z1
• Future television stations TV7 (regional news) and RTA (regional TV)
• Carriage of TV Pohoda and Febio TV was also mandated by must-carry regulations; however, as investments for these channels were pulled, these channels never commenced broadcasting.

Asia[link]

India[link]

In India, government has applied must-carry rule for public broadcaster channels from Doordarshan by Cable, DTH and IPTV network. Cable TV operators must offer National (DD1), DD News, Loksabha, Rajyasabha and Regional channels to all subscribers. In addition, DD Bharti and DD Urdu must also be carried in their appropriate tiers.

References[link]

External links[link]

• http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/M/htmlM/mustcarryru/mustcarryru.htm
• http://www.c-span.org/about/mustcarry.asp
• http://www.oyez.org/oyez/resource/case/929/

Cristiano Ronaldo

Ronaldo playing for Real Madrid
Personal information
Full name	Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro
Date of birth	(1985-02-05) 5 February 1985 (age 27)
Place of birth	Funchal, Madeira, Portugal
Height	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)[1]
Playing position	Forward
Club information
Current club	Real Madrid
Number	7
Youth career
1993–1995	Andorinha
1995–1997	Nacional
1997–2002	Sporting CP
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2002–2003	Sporting CP	25	(3)
2003–2009	Manchester United	196	(84)
2009–	Real Madrid	101	(112)
National team‡
2001–2002	Portugal U17	9	(6)
2003	Portugal U20	5	(1)
2002–2003	Portugal U21	6	(3)
2004	Portugal U23	3	(1)
2003–	Portugal	89	(32)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 19:00, 13 May 2012 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 21:31, 26 May 2012

Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro,^[2] OIH, (born 5 February 1985),^[3] commonly known as Cristiano Ronaldo, is a Portuguese footballer who plays as a winger or striker for Spanish La Liga club Real Madrid and is the captain of the Portuguese national team. Ronaldo became the most expensive footballer in history after moving from Manchester United to Real Madrid in a transfer worth £80 million (€93.9 million/$131.6 million). In addition, his contract with Real Madrid, in which he is paid €12 million per year, makes him one of the highest-paid footballers in the world,^[4] and his buyout clause is valued at €1 billion as per his contract.^[5]

Ronaldo began his career as a youth player for Andorinha, where he played for two years, before moving to C.D. Nacional. In 1997, he made a move to Portuguese giants Sporting Clube de Portugal. Ronaldo's precocious talent caught the attention of Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson, who signed him for £12.24 million (€15 million) in 2003. The following season, Ronaldo won his first club honour, the FA Cup. He also played at Euro 2004 with Portugal and scored his first international goal in the opening game of the tournament against Greece, in addition to helping Portugal reach the final. He was featured in the UEFA Euro All-Star Team of this competition.

Ronaldo was the first player to win all four main PFA and FWA awards, doing so in 2007. He was third in the 2007 FIFA World Player of the Year award and second in the 2007 Ballon d'Or award. In 2008, Ronaldo won the Champions League with United, was named best forward and player of the tournament and was the competition's top goalscorer as well as winning the European Golden Shoe, becoming the first winger to do so, and topping the Premier League Golden Boot award. He won three of the four main PFA and FWA trophies, only missing the PFA Young Player of the Year, and was named the FIFPro, World Soccer, Onze d'Or,^[6][7][8] and the FIFA World Player of the Year, in addition to becoming Manchester United's first Ballon d'Or winner in 40 years.^[9] Ronaldo holds the distinction of being the first player to win the FIFA Puskás Award, in 2009, an honour handed by FIFA to the best goal of the year. He scored that goal from 40 yards out against Porto in a UEFA Champions League quarter-final match, while playing for Manchester United.^[10] Three-time Ballon d'Or winner Johan Cruyff said in an interview on 2 April 2008, "Ronaldo is better than George Best and Denis Law, who were two brilliant and great players in the history of United."^[11] He was second in the 2009 FIFA World Player of the Year award and also second in the 2009 Ballon d'Or award.

After moving to Real Madrid in 2009, in his second season, Ronaldo became the highest goalscorer in a season in the history of Real Madrid with 53 goals, surpassing the club's previous high of 49 by Ferenc Puskás. During this season Ronaldo broke the record of most goals ever scored in a season in La Liga with 40, surpassing Telmo Zarra's and Hugo Sánchez's mark (38 goals) established in 1951 and 1990, respectively. Ronaldo also broke Zarra's record of most goals per minute, with a goal scored every 70.7 minutes. The newspaper Marca, the official deliverer of the Pichichi Trophy (the top La Liga goalscorer award), claimed that Ronaldo scored 41 goals (Marca assigned one more goal to Ronaldo than La Liga, which attributed it to Pepe). By doing so, he won the European Golden Shoe award once again, becoming the first player to win the trophy in two different championships. He was third in the 2010–11 UEFA Best Player in Europe Award and second in the 2011 FIFA Ballon d'Or. On 24 March 2012, with the first of two goals scored in the match against Real Sociedad, Ronaldo became the fastest La Liga player to score 100 goals in the league.^[12] Ronaldo officially broke his previous record of 40 goals in a La Liga season in the 2011–12 season; by doing so, he became first player to reach 40 goals in a single season in two consecutive years in any of the top European leagues. On 13 May 2012, the last matchday, Ronaldo scored against Mallorca which made him the first player ever to score against every team in a single season in La Liga.^[13] He finished the season with 60 goals in every competition, breaking the Real Madrid record he had set the previous season.

Ronaldo has been described as a skillful winger who will take on any defender with his dribbling and pace; he hits his free kicks with power and pace, and is able to beat defenders off the dribble and cross the ball. He is able to score with his head and feet.^[14]

Early life[link]

Ronaldo was born in Santo António, a neighbourhood of Funchal, Madeira, the youngest child of Maria Dolores dos Santos Aveiro, a cook, and José Dinis Aveiro, a municipal gardener.^[15] His second given name "Ronaldo" was chosen after then-U.S. president Ronald Reagan, who was his father's favourite actor. He has one older brother, Hugo, and two older sisters, Elma and Liliana Cátia.^[3] His great-grandmother Isabel da Piedade was from Cape Verde.^[16]

Club career[link]

Early career[link]

At the age of eight, Ronaldo played for amateur team Andorinha, where his father was the kit man. In 1995, Ronaldo signed with local club Nacional, and, after a title-winning campaign, he went on a three-day trial with Sporting CP, who subsequently signed him for an undisclosed sum.^[17]

Sporting Clube de Portugal[link]

Ronaldo joined Sporting's other youth players who trained at the Academia Sporting, the club's football academy, in Alcochete. He became the only player ever to play for Sporting's under-16, under-17, under-18, B-team, and the first team, all within one season.^[18] He scored two goals in his league debut on 7 October 2002, which Sporting CP won 3–0 against Moreirense, while featuring for Portugal in the 2002 European Under-17 Championship.^[19]

At the age of 15 Ronaldo was diagnosed with a racing heart, a condition that might have forced him to give up playing football. The Sporting staff were made aware of the condition and Ronaldo's mother gave her authorisation for him to go into hospital. While there, he had an operation in which a laser was used to cauterise the area of his heart that was causing the problem. The surgery took place in the morning and Ronaldo was discharged from hospital by the end of the afternoon; he resumed training only a few days later.^[20]

In November 2002, Ronaldo was invited to Arsenal's training ground, London Colney to meet manager Arsène Wenger and his coaching staff.^[21] Wenger, who was interested in signing the midfielder had arranged to meet Ronaldo's representatives, Formation (who suggested the player originally to Gérard Houllier, then Liverpool's manager) in the subsequent months to discuss a transfer arrangement.^[22] However he came to the attention of Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson in the summer of 2003, when Sporting defeated United 3–1 in the inauguration of the Estádio José Alvalade in Lisbon. Ronaldo's performance impressed the Manchester United players, who urged Ferguson to sign him.^[23]

Manchester United[link]

2003–2006[link]

Ronaldo playing against Chelsea in April 2006.

Ronaldo became Manchester United's first-ever Portuguese player when he signed for €15 million^[24] (£12.24 million) after the 2002–03 season.^[25] He requested the number 28 (his number at Sporting), as he did not want the pressure of living up to the expectation linked to the number 7 shirt, which had previously been worn by players such as George Best, Bryan Robson, Eric Cantona, and David Beckham. "After I joined, the manager asked me what number I'd like. I said 28. But Ferguson said 'No, you're going to have No. 7,' and the famous shirt was an extra source of motivation. I was forced to live up to such an honour."^[26]

Ronaldo made his team debut as a 60th-minute substitute in a 4–0 home victory over Bolton Wanderers. He scored his first goal for Manchester United with a free kick in a 3–0 win over Portsmouth on 1 November 2003. Ronaldo ended his first season in English football by scoring the opening goal in United's 3–0 FA Cup final victory over Millwall.^[27]

He scored United's 1000th Premier League goal on 29 October 2005 in a 4–1 loss to Middlesbrough.^[28] He scored ten goals in all competitions, and fans voted him to his first FIFPro Special Young Player of the Year award in 2005.

He was sent off in the Manchester derby at the City of Manchester Stadium on 14 January 2006 (a game which United lost 3–1) for kicking City's former United player Andrew Cole.^[29]

Ronaldo won his second trophy in English football in the 2005–06 season, scoring the third goal in Manchester United's 4–0 Football League Cup final victory over Wigan Athletic.^[30]

2006–2009[link]

Ronaldo with United during their 2006–2007 season.

The 2006–2007 season proved to be the breakout year for Ronaldo, as he broke the 20 goal barrier for the first time and picked up his first league title with Manchester United.

In November and December 2006, Ronaldo received consecutive Barclays Player of the Month honours, becoming only the third player in Premier League history to do so after Dennis Bergkamp in 1997 and Robbie Fowler in 1996.^[31][32] He scored his 50th Manchester United goal against city rivals Manchester City on 5 May 2007 as United claimed their first Premier League title in four years, and he was voted into his second consecutive FIFPro Special Young Player of the Year award at the end of the year.

Despite rumours circulating in March 2007 that Real Madrid were willing to pay an unprecedented €80 million (£54 million) for Ronaldo,^[33] he signed a five-year, £120,000-a-week (£31 million total) extension with United on 13 April, making him the highest-paid player in team history.^[34][35]

Ronaldo amassed a host of personal awards for the season. He won the PFA Players' Player of the Year and PFA Young Player of the Year awards, joining Andy Gray (in 1977) as the only players to receive this honour.^[36] In April, he completed the treble by winning the PFA Fans' Player of the Year. Ronaldo was also one of eight Manchester United players named in the 2006–07 PFA Premier League Team of the Year.

Ronaldo (left) and Carlos Tévez prior to a Champions League match.

Ronaldo's 2007–08 season began with a red card for a headbutt on Portsmouth player Richard Hughes during United's second match of the season, for which he was punished with a three-match ban.^[37] Ronaldo said he had "learned a lot" from the experience and would not let players "provoke" him in the future.^[38] After scoring the only goal in a Champions League away match against Sporting, Ronaldo also scored the injury-time winner in the return fixture as Manchester United topped their Champions League group.^[39]

He finished as the runner-up to Kaká for the 2007 Ballon d'Or,^[40] and was third in the running for the FIFA World Player of the Year award, behind Kaká and Lionel Messi.^[41]

Ronaldo scored his first hat trick for Manchester United in a 6–0 win against Newcastle United at Old Trafford on 12 January 2008, bringing Manchester United up to the top of the Premier League table.^[42] He scored his twenty-third league goal of the season in a 2–0 win against Reading, equalling his entire total for the 2006–07 season.^[43] During a 1–1 Champions League first knockout round draw against Lyon on 20 February, an unidentified Lyon supporter continuously aimed a green laser at Ronaldo and United teammate Nani, prompting an investigation by UEFA.^[44] One month later, Lyon were fined CHF5,000 (£2,427) for the incident.^[45]

On 19 March 2008, Ronaldo captained United for the first time in his career in a home win over Bolton, scoring both goals in the 2–0 victory.^[46] The second of the goals was his 33rd of the campaign, which set a new club single-season scoring record by a midfielder and thus topped George Best's forty-year-old total of 32 goals in the 1967–68 season.^[47] Ronaldo scored another brace in a 4–0 win over Aston Villa on 29 March, which at the time gave him 35 goals in 37 domestic and European matches as both a starter and substitute. Ronaldo's scoring streak was rewarded with his becoming the first winger to win the 2007–08 European Golden Shoe, finishing eight points ahead of Mallorca's Dani Güiza.^[48]

In the 2007–08 Champions League final on 21 May against league rivals Chelsea, Ronaldo scored the opening goal after 26 minutes, which was negated by a Chelsea equaliser in the 45th minute as the match ended 1–1 after extra time. His misfire in the penalty shoot-out put Chelsea in position to win the trophy, but John Terry shot wide right after slipping on the pitch surface, and Manchester United emerged victorious 6–5 on penalties. Ronaldo was named the UEFA Fans' Man of the Match,^[49] and wrapped up the campaign with a career-high 42 goals in all competitions, falling four short of Denis Law's team-record mark of 46 in the 1963–64 season.

Ronaldo and Manchester United against Albert Riera and rivals Liverpool.

On 5 June 2008, Sky Sports reported that Ronaldo had expressed an interest in moving to Real Madrid if they offered him the same amount of money the team had allegedly promised him earlier in the year.^[50] Manchester United filed a tampering complaint with FIFA on 9 June over Madrid's alleged pursuit of Ronaldo, but FIFA declined to take any action.^[51][52] Speculation that a transfer would happen continued until 6 August, when Ronaldo confirmed that he would stay at United for at least another year.^[53]

Ronaldo underwent ankle surgery at the Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam on 7 July.^[54] He returned to action on 17 September in United's UEFA Champions League goalless group-stage draw with Villarreal as a substitute for Park Ji-Sung,^[55] and scored his first overall goal of the season in a 3–1 League Cup third round win over Middlesbrough on 24 September.

In a 5–0 win over Stoke City on 15 November 2008, Ronaldo scored his 100th and 101st goals in all competitions for Manchester United, both from free kicks.^[56] The goals also meant that Ronaldo had now scored against each of the other 19 teams in the Premier League at the time.^[57] On 2 December, Ronaldo became Manchester United's first Ballon d'Or recipient since George Best in 1968. He finished with 446 points, 165 ahead of runner-up Lionel Messi.^[58] He was awarded the Silver Ball after finishing with two goals as United won the Club World Cup on 19 December.^[59]

On 8 January 2009, Ronaldo was uninjured in a single-car accident in which he wrote off his Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano in a tunnel along the A538 near Manchester Airport. A breathalyser test he gave to police officers at the scene was negative, and he attended training later that morning.^[60] Four days later, he became the first Premier League player ever to be named the FIFA World Player of the Year, in addition to being the first Portuguese player to win the award since Luís Figo in 2001.^[61]

Ronaldo scored his first Champions League goal of the season, and first since the final against Chelsea, in a 2–0 victory over Internazionale that sent United into the quarter-finals.^[62] In the second leg against Porto, Ronaldo scored a 40-yard game-winning goal as United advanced to the semi-finals. He later called it the best goal he had ever scored.^[63][64] Ronaldo participated in his second consecutive Champions League final, but made little impact in United's 2–0 loss to Barcelona. He finished with 53 appearances in all competitions, which was four higher than the previous year, but scored sixteen fewer goals (26) than his career-best total of 42 from the previous season.

On 11 June, Manchester United accepted an unconditional offer of £80 million from Real Madrid for Ronaldo after it was revealed that he again had expressed his desire to leave the club.^[65] It was confirmed by a representative of the Glazer family that the sale was fully condoned by Ferguson.^[66] When Ronaldo had eventually completed his transfer to Real, he expressed his gratitude towards Ferguson for helping him develop as a player, saying, "He's been my father in sport, one of the most important factors and most influential in my career."^[67]

Real Madrid[link]

2009–10 season[link]

Ronaldo and Real Madrid against Diego Forlán and city rivals Atlético Madrid.

On 26 June 2009, Real Madrid confirmed that Ronaldo would join the club on 1 July 2009 from Manchester United for £80 million (€93.9 million/$131.6 million),^[68] after agreeing terms and signing a six-year contract.^[69] Ronaldo's contract is worth €11 million per year^[4] and it has a €1 billion buy-out clause.^[70] He was presented to the world media as a Real Madrid player on 6 July,^[71] where he was handed the number 9 jersey.^[72] The shirt was presented to him by Madrid legend Alfredo Di Stéfano.^[73] Ronaldo was welcomed by 80,000 fans at his presentation at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, surpassing Diego Maradona's record of 75,000 fans when he was presented in Italy, after he was transferred from Barcelona to Napoli in 1984.^[74]

Ronaldo made his Madrid debut on 21 July in a 1–0 win over Shamrock Rovers. His first goal came one week later with a penalty in Madrid's 4–2 win over LDU Quito.^[75] On 29 August, Ronaldo capped his La Liga debut with a goal, scoring Real's second from the penalty spot in a 3–2 home win against Deportivo La Coruña.^[76] On 15 September, Ronaldo scored two free-kicks in a 5–2 away victory over Zürich, his first Champions League goals for Real.^[77] He broke a Madrid club record when he scored in a league match against Villarreal and thus became the first ever player to score in his first four La Liga appearances.^[78]

An ankle injury suffered on 10 October, while Ronaldo was on international duty with Portugal against Hungary,^[79] kept him out until 25 November, which in turn caused him to miss both of Madrid's Champions League group stage matches against Milan. Ronaldo made his first post-injury start in a 1–0 El Clásico defeat to Barcelona on 29 November. On 6 December, he was sent off for the first time in his Madrid career in Madrid's 4–2 victory against Almería, a match which also saw him miss a penalty. He was carded first for removing his shirt during a goal celebration, then for kicking out at an opponent three minutes later.^[80] On 5 May 2010 Ronaldo scored his first Real Madrid hat-trick in an away game against Mallorca. Ronaldo and Gonzalo Higuaín scored 53 league goals during the course of the season and became Real's highest scoring league duo in their history.^[81]

2010–11 season[link]

Ronaldo during a friendly game against Peñarol before the beginning of the season.

With the departure of Raúl during the summer of 2010, Ronaldo was handed the No. 7 jersey for Real Madrid.^[82] On 23 October 2010, Ronaldo scored four goals against Racing de Santander,^[83] the most goals he has ever scored in a single match.^[84] This completed a goalscoring run of six consecutive matches (three in La Liga, one in the Champions League, and two for Portugal) in which Ronaldo scored in each match, totalling 11 goals, which is the most Ronaldo has scored in a single month. Before Real Madrid's 5–0 defeat by Barcelona at the Camp Nou, Ronaldo scored his second La Liga hat-trick of the season in a 5–1 win over Athletic Bilbao.^[85] His final match of the calendar year saw him score a hat-trick in a 8–0 trashing of Levante in the Copa del Rey.^[86]

Ronaldo began the 2011 with a very promising outlook, especially after Real Madrid acknowledged he had broken numerous goalscoring records, previously settled and held by classic players such as Alfredo Di Stéfano, Hugo Sánchez, and Manuel Alday.^[87][88] Ronaldo began his scoring spree by scoring two vital goals in a tight 3–2 victory away to Getafe.^[89] He then consolidated his massive performances by scoring a hat-trick and assisting Kaká to score his first league goal after his return from injury, in a 4–2 victory over Villarreal on 9 January. One game away from the middle of the season, Ronaldo had a very clear chance of breaking Telmo Zarra's and Hugo Sánchez's record of 38 League goals in a single season, since he was the league's top scorer with 22 goals, above Lionel Messi.^[90][91] However, shortly after, Ronaldo experienced the biggest goal drought in his entire career, scoring only 2 goals in more than a month. During this period, Real Madrid acknowledged to have hit the crossbar more than 12 times in the season, most of the shots belonging to Ronaldo and almost all having happened during crucial moments in drawn matches.^[92] Ronaldo then made a massive comeback by scoring a hat-trick in a 7–0 trashing of Málaga on 3 March 2011, but was affected by a muscle injury at the end of the match, which forced him to spend 10 days on the sidelines.

Ronaldo and Real Madrid against Gareth Bale and Tottenham in the UEFA Champions League.

In April he made another massive comeback from injury, sustaining a three-game scoring streak (including 2 goals in Champions League quarter-finals against Tottenham Hotspur), thus arriving to the first of a historical series of four El Clásico encounters two goals short of breaking his personal record of 42 goals in all competitions in a single season, achieved at Manchester United in the 2007–08 season.

During the second league edition of El Clásico, Ronaldo scored from the penalty spot and took his tally to 41 goals, also taking his scoring streak to four games. On 20 April, Ronaldo scored the winning goal against Barcelona in the 103rd minute of the Copa del Rey final.^[93] This goal would later be chosen as both Ronaldo's and Real Madrid's best goal in the season by several fan polls, including those of Marca^[94] and Real Madrid's website.^[95] 7 May saw Real travel to the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán to take on Sevilla, where Ronaldo led the thrashing of a woeful Andalusian side, scoring four goals in a 6–2 victory. These four goals took him to 46 for the season which surpassed his previous record of 42 in a season playing for Manchester United.^[96] Three days later he reached 49 goals for the season, by scoring another hat-trick in a 4–0 home win against Getafe. On 15 May, after scoring two free-kick goals in a 3–1 win over Villarreal, he equalled the La Liga record with most goals in a season with 38, a record previously held by Telmo Zarra and Hugo Sánchez.

On 21 May, he scored two goals in the last league match of the season against Almería, taking his Pichichi total to 41, and La Liga total to 40, becoming the first and only player to score 40 goals in a La Liga season. By doing this, he won the European Golden Shoe award once again, becoming the first player to win the trophy in two different leagues. The sports newspaper Marca, who awards the Pichichi Trophy, included the goal scored on 18 September 2010 against Real Sociedad in Ronaldo's goal count, which had been officially attributed to Pepe.^[97] Should this goal be granted to Ronaldo, his goal count in the Pichichi Trophy would tally 41 goals. However, regardless of this goal polemic, Ronaldo's record-breaking figures became a source of major attention from public media, such as being included in the Sports Illustrated World XI,^[98] rating him as one of the world's best footballers. Accounting for all competitions, Ronaldo ended the season with a total of 53 goals (not granting him the controversial goal from Pepe), having scored 25 goals with his right foot (excluding free-kicks and penalty-kicks) and 9 with his left foot.^[99]

2011–12 season[link]

Real Madrid's pre-season began with a 4–1 victory over MLS team Los Angeles Galaxy,^[100] with goals from Callejón, Joselu, Ronaldo, and Benzema.^[101] Four days later Ronaldo scored a second half hat-trick in a 3–0 win against Guadalajara. Ronaldo's preseason performance was highly praised as world media kept hailing Ronaldo's extreme competitiveness and motivation, even during friendly matches. On 17 August 2011, Ronaldo scored his 100th goal with Real Madrid with a first-half equalizer against Barcelona in the second leg of the 2011 Spanish Supercup in the Camp Nou. On August 27, 2011, he opened the 2011–12 La Liga season with a hat-trick in a 6–0 win at Real Zaragoza.

In the first weeks of September, Ronaldo's physical performance was subject to scrutiny by world media, after Castrol released a television film named Ronaldo: Tested to the Limit where he was put to test in several fields, including mental and physical. Conclusions from the movie and doctors in the weeks following claimed that Ronaldo was one of the best athletes in the world, excelling in football and outstanding in almost every other category.^{[citation needed]} Several sources^{[weasel words]} drew comparisons between him and other top athletes, including sprinter Usain Bolt.^{[citation needed]} On 24 September, Ronaldo scored a hat-trick (including two penalties) in Real Madrid's 6–2 win over Rayo Vallecano at the Santiago Bernabéu. This was his ninth La Liga hat-trick and tenth hat-trick for Real Madrid. On September 27, Ronaldo scored Real's opening goal in a 3–0 defeat of Ajax in the Champions League. On 22 October, after not scoring in his previous three games, Ronaldo scored his tenth La Liga hat-trick and eleventh in total for Real Madrid in a match away to Málaga, which Real Madrid won 4–0. His twelfth Real Madrid hat-trick followed on 6 November, in a 7–1 victory over Osasuna that ensured Madrid stayed top of the table heading into the international break.^[102] On 19 November 2011, Ronaldo scored Real's second goal in a 2–3 defeat of Valencia. On 26 November 2011, Ronaldo scored two penalties in a 4–1 defeat of Atlético Madrid in the El Derbi madrileño. On 3 December 2011, Ronaldo scored Madrid's second goal in a 0–3 defeat of Sporting de Gijón in La Liga. He was one of the three finalists for the 2011 FIFA Ballon d'Or. On 13 December 2011, Ronaldo scored the second goal against SD Ponferradina in the first leg of the Copa del Rey Round 4, the match ended in a 0–2 win. On 17 December 2011, Ronaldo scored his twelfth La Liga hat-trick and thirteenth overall in a 6–2 win away to Sevilla. Ronaldo was third in the 2010–11 UEFA Best Player in Europe Award, behind Lionel Messi and Xavi Hernández, and second in the 2011 FIFA Ballon d'Or, behind Lionel Messi and ahead of Xavi Hernández. In Real Madrid's next game in La Liga at home to Granada Ronaldo scored the fifth goal in a 5–1 win. He was notably criticized in the public media^[who?] for not celebrating the goal. On 22 January 2012, Ronaldo scored two penalties in a 4–1 win over Athletic Bilbao, and on 28 January scored Real Madrid's second and winning goal in a 3–1 win against Zaragoza. Ronaldo also scored two goals against Barcelona in the Copa del Rey Quarter-finals, which Real lost 4–3 on aggregrate. On 12 February 2012, Ronaldo scored a hat-trick, his thirteenth in La Liga and fourteenth for Real Madrid, in a 4–2 home win over Levante. This win stretched Real Madrid's lead over second-placed Barcelona to 10 points. On 24 March 2012, Ronaldo reached more than 100 goals in La Liga in just three season at Real Madrid. As of March 24, 2012, Ronaldo had averaged 1.01 goals per game in La Liga.

On 11 April, Ronaldo scored a hat-trick against Atletico Madrid in a 1–4 win, as well as assisting the last goal. His hat-trick, one goal from a free kick, one from 30 yards on the left wing and one penalty, gave him 40 league goals in the season, making him the only player in La Liga history to score 40 goals in two seasons, even doing so in consecutive seasons. Ronaldo officially broke his previous record of 40 goals in a La Liga season on 14 April, scoring in a 3–1 win against Sporting Gijón.

International career[link]

Ronaldo playing against Brazil

Ronaldo earned his first cap for Portugal in a 1–0 victory against Kazakhstan on 20 August 2003.^[103]

Euro 2004[link]

Ronaldo was called up for Euro 2004,^[104] scoring in a 2–1 group stage loss to eventual champions Greece^[105] and in a 2–1 semi-final win over the Netherlands.^[106] He was named in the team of the tournament despite finishing with only two goals.^[107] He also represented Portugal at the 2004 Summer Olympics.^[108][109]

2006 World Cup[link]

Ronaldo was the second-highest scorer in FIFA World Cup qualification in the European zone with seven goals,^[107] and scored his first World Cup goal against Iran with a penalty kick.^[110]

During a quarter-final match against England on 1 July 2006, Ronaldo's United teammate Wayne Rooney was sent off for stamping on Portugal defender Ricardo Carvalho. The English media speculated that Ronaldo had influenced referee Horacio Elizondo's decision by aggressively complaining, after which he was seen in replays winking at the Portuguese bench following Rooney's dismissal. After the match, Ronaldo insisted that Rooney was a friend and that he was not pushing for Rooney to be sent off.^[111] On 4 July, Elizondo clarified that the red card was due to Rooney's infraction and not the fracas between Rooney and Ronaldo that followed.^[112]

The angry reaction from the English press caused Ronaldo to consider leaving United,^[113] and he allegedly told Spanish sports daily Marca that he wished to move to Real Madrid.^[114] In response to the speculation, Ferguson sent Portuguese assistant manager Carlos Queiroz to speak to Ronaldo in attempt to change his mind, a sentiment that was shared by Rooney.^[115][116] Ronaldo stayed, and signed his new five-year extension in April 2007.^[117]

Ronaldo was booed during Portugal's semi-final defeat to France,^[118] and missed out on the competition's Best Young Player award due to a negative e-mail campaign from England fans.^[119] Though the online vote only affected the nomination process, FIFA's Technical Study Group awarded the honour to Germany's Lukas Podolski, citing Ronaldo's behaviour as a factor in the decision.^[120]

Post-World Cup[link]

One day after his 22nd birthday, Ronaldo captained Portugal for the first time in a friendly against Brazil on 6 February 2007.^[121] This move was in honour of Portuguese Football Federation president Carlos Silva, who had died two days earlier. Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari explained, "Mr. Silva asked me to make [Ronaldo] captain as a gesture... [he] is too young to be captain, but Mr. Silva asked me, and now he is no longer with us."^[122]

Euro 2008[link]

Ronaldo scored eight goals in Portugal's UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying campaign,^[123] behind Poland's Ebi Smolarek, but finished with only one goal in the tournament as Portugal were eliminated in the quarter-finals by Germany.^[124] When Carlos Queiroz was named Portugal's new coach in July 2008,^[125] he appointed Ronaldo as team captain.^[126]

2010 World Cup[link]

On 15 June 2010, in Portugal's opening World Cup match against Côte d'Ivoire, Ronaldo was tackled by right-back Guy Demel, which led to an argument and both being booked. The next day, Portugal contacted FIFA to suggest that Ronaldo's yellow card be rescinded since he was "pulled into" the confrontation after having already moved away from the spot where he was tackled, but the appeal was rejected.^[127]

Ronaldo failed to make an impact in the World Cup; after going scoreless in the qualifiers, his only goal came in Portugal's 7–0 group stage thrashing of North Korea on 21 June,^[128] which marked his first international goal in 16 months.^[129] Portugal were ultimately eliminated by Spain in the Round of 16.

International goals[link]

Cristiano Ronaldo: International goals

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	12 June 2004	Estádio do Dragão, Porto, Portugal	Greece	1–2	1–2	Euro 2004
2	30 June 2004	Estádio José Alvalade, Lisbon, Portugal	Netherlands	2–0	2–1	Euro 2004
3	4 September 2004	Skonto Stadium, Riga, Latvia	Latvia	0–1	0–2	2006 World Cup Qualification
4	8 September 2004	Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pessoa, Leiria, Portugal	Estonia	1–0	4–0	2006 World Cup Qualification
5	13 October 2004	Estádio José Alvalade, Lisbon, Portugal	Russia	2–0	7–1	2006 World Cup Qualification
6	13 October 2004	Estádio José Alvalade, Lisbon, Portugal	Russia	4–0	7–1	2006 World Cup Qualification
7	17 November 2004	Stade Josy Barthel, Luxemburg City, Luxembourg	Luxembourg	0–2	0–5	2006 World Cup Qualification
8	4 June 2005	Estádio da Luz, Lisbon, Portugal	Slovakia	2–0	2–0	2006 World Cup Qualification
9	8 June 2005	A. Le Coq Arena, Tallinn, Estonia	Estonia	0–1	0–1	2006 World Cup Qualification
10	1 March 2006	LTU Arena, Düsseldorf, Germany	Saudi Arabia	0–1	0–3	Friendly
11	1 March 2006	LTU Arena, Düsseldorf, Germany	Saudi Arabia	0–3	0–3	Friendly
12	17 June 2006	Waldstadion, Frankfurt, Germany	Iran	2–0	2–0	2006 World Cup
13	7 October 2006	Estádio do Bessa, Porto, Portugal	Azerbaijan	1–0	3–0	Euro 2008 Qualification
14	7 October 2006	Estádio do Bessa, Porto, Portugal	Azerbaijan	3–0	3–0	Euro 2008 Qualification
15	15 November 2006	Estádio Cidade de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal	Kazakhstan	2–0	3–0	Euro 2008 Qualification
16	24 March 2007	Estádio José Alvalade, Lisbon, Portugal	Belgium	2–0	4–0	Euro 2008 Qualification
17	24 March 2007	Estádio José Alvalade, Lisbon, Portugal	Belgium	4–0	4–0	Euro 2008 Qualification
18	22 August 2007	Hanrapetakan Stadium, Yerevan, Armenia	Armenia	1–1	1–1	Euro 2008 Qualification
19	8 September 2007	Estádio da Luz, Lisbon, Portugal	Poland	2–1	2–2	Euro 2008 Qualification
20	17 October 2007	Almaty Central Stadium, Almaty, Kazakhstan	Kazakhstan	0–2	1–2	Euro 2008 Qualification
21	11 June 2008	Stade de Genève, Geneva, Switzerland	Czech Republic	1–2	1–3	Euro 2008
22	11 February 2009	Estádio Algarve, Faro, Portugal	Finland	1–0	1–0	Friendly
23	21 June 2010	Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town, South Africa	North Korea	6–0	7–0	2010 World Cup
24	8 October 2010	Estádio do Dragão, Porto, Portugal	Denmark	3–1	3–1	Euro 2012 Qualification
25	12 October 2010	Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland	Iceland	0–1	1–3	Euro 2012 Qualification
26	9 February 2011	Stade de Genève, Geneva, Switzerland	Argentina	1–1	2–1	Friendly
27	10 August 2011	Estádio Algarve, Faro, Portugal	Luxembourg	2–0	5–0	Friendly
28	2 September 2011	GSP Stadium, Nicosia, Cyprus	Cyprus	0–1	0–4	Euro 2012 Qualification
29	2 September 2011	GSP Stadium, Nicosia, Cyprus	Cyprus	0–2	0–4	Euro 2012 Qualification
30	11 October 2011	Parken Stadium, Copenhagen, Denmark	Denmark	2–1	2–1	Euro 2012 Qualification
31	15 November 2011	Estádio da Luz, Lisbon, Portugal	Bosnia and Herzegovina	1–0	6–2	Euro 2012 Qualification
32	15 November 2011	Estádio da Luz, Lisbon, Portugal	Bosnia and Herzegovina	3–1	6–2	Euro 2012 Qualification

Personal life[link]

Ronaldo's father, José Dinis Aveiro, died of an alcoholism-related liver condition in September 2005^[130] at age 52 when Ronaldo was 20. Ronaldo's mother and Manchester United coach have stated that he does not drink alcohol as a result and he has received libel damages over a Daily Mirror article that reported him drinking heavily in a nightclub while recovering from an injury in July 2008.^[131]

Ronaldo's autobiography, titled Moments, was published in December 2007.^[132] Along with one of his sisters, Ronaldo opened a fashion boutique under the name "CR7" (his initials and shirt number).^[133] There are currently two CR7 shop locations, both of which are in Portugal; one in Lisbon and the other in Madeira.

On 9 June 2010, Madame Tussauds London unveiled Ronaldo's waxwork as part of the build-up to the World Cup. Ronaldo joined fellow footballers Steven Gerrard, Pelé and David Beckham at the event's venue.^[134]

Ronaldo announced that he had become a father on 3 July 2010. His official Facebook and Twitter pages reference the birth of his son and request privacy.^[135] The child, named Cristiano^[136] is in full custody of Ronaldo.^[135]

In August 2010, Ronaldo reached 10 million fans on Facebook and in doing so made history by becoming the first non-American personality ever to achieve that kind of success on the social networking site.^[137]

Ronaldo has previously dated English models Alice Goodwin^[138] and Gemma Atkinson, and since the start of 2010, he has been dating Russian model Irina Shayk.^[139]

On December 5, 2011, Cristiano launched an iPhone game called Heads Up with Cristiano. The game is created by developer RockLive.^[140].

In 17 May 2012, Ronaldo and Castrol EDGE launched a live-streamed football challenge against fans through Facebook. #RonaldoLIVE would be the world's first interactive football challenge streamed live through Facebook from a state-of-the-art testing facility in Madrid.^[141]

Philanthropy[link]

Television footage of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami showed an eight-year-old boy wearing a No. 7 Portuguese football jersey who was stranded for 19 days after his family was killed. Following this, Ronaldo visited Aceh, Indonesia, to raise funds for rehabilitation and reconstruction.^[142][143]

In support of the victims of the 2010 Madeira flood, Ronaldo played in a charity match in Madeira between the Primeira Liga club FC Porto and players from Madeiran based clubs Marítimo and Nacional.^[144]

Career statistics[link]

Club[link]

Statistics accurate as of 13 May 2012.

¹2010–11 season notice: Does not include one goal scored on 18 September 2010 against Real Sociedad. Marca, which awards the Pichichi Trophy, attribute it to Ronaldo while La Liga and UEFA attribute it to Pepe.^[97]

²Includes other competitive competitions, including the Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira, FA Community Shield, UEFA Super Cup, FIFA Club World Cup and Supercopa de España.

International[link]

Ronaldo playing for Portugal

As of 26 May 2012.^[145]

Career totals[link]

Ronaldo with Lionel Messi, February 2011

Statistics accurate as of match played 26 May 2012.

Honours[link]

Manchester United

• Premier League (3): 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09
• FA Cup (1): 2003–04
• Football League Cup (2): 2005–06, 2008–09
• FA Community Shield (1): 2007
• UEFA Champions League (1): 2007–08
• FIFA Club World Cup (1): 2008

Real Madrid

• La Liga (1): 2011–12
• Copa del Rey (1): 2010–11

Individual[link]

• UEFA Euro All-Star Team (1): 2004
• Bravo Award (1): 2004
• FIFPro Special Young Player of the Year (2): 2004, 2005
• Portuguese Footballer of the Year (6): 2006–07,2007–08,2008–09,2009–10,2010–11,2011–12
• UEFA Team of the Year (6): 2003–04, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11
• Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year (3): 2003–04, 2006–07, 2007–08
• FIFA FIFPro World XI (5): 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011
• PFA Young Player of the Year (1): 2006–07
• PFA Players' Player of the Year (2): 2006–07, 2007–08
• PFA Fans' Player of the Year (2): 2006–07, 2007–08
• PFA Premier League Team of the Year (4): 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09
• FWA Footballer of the Year (2): 2006–07, 2007–08
• Barclays Player of the Year (2): 2006–07, 2007–08
• Premier League Player of the Month (4): November 2006, December 2006, January 2008, March 2008
• Premier League Golden Boot (1): 2007–08
• Barclays Merit Award (1): 2007–08
• UEFA Champions League Topscorer (1): 2007–08
• European Golden Shoe (2): 2007–08, 2010–11
• UEFA Club Forward of the Year (1): 2007–08
• UEFA Club Footballer of the Year (1): 2007–08
• FIFA Club World Cup Silver Ball (1): 2008
• Ballon d'Or (1): 2008
• FIFA World Player of the Year (1): 2008
• FIFPro World Player of the Year (1): 2008
• Onze d'Or (1): 2008
• World Soccer Player of the Year (1): 2008
• FIFA Puskás Award (1): 2009
• La Liga top scorer (1): 2010–11

Orders[link]

• Officer of the Order of Infante Dom Henrique
• Medal of Merit, Order of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Viçosa (House of Bragança)^[146]

References[link]