Juventus and Portugal superstar Cristiano Ronaldo is being investigated by Italian police after he appeared to flout coronavirus rules by allegedly travelling to the region of Aosta in the north-west of the country.
Ronaldo’s girlfriend, Georgina Rodriguez, turned 27 on Wednesday and the couple are accused of moving between Piedmont and Valle d’Aosta to celebrate the model’s birthday in the Alpine town of Courmayeur.
Pictures uploaded to social media – which have since been removed – showed the pair enjoying themselves on a snowmobile at an unspecified ski resort.
Rodriguez later uploaded a photograph of the couple and their children gathered around a birthday cake at their home in Turin.
Valle d’Aosta police confirmed to Reuters that the incident is being investigated, with strict COVID-19 regulations in place across the whole of Italy and over 86,000 deaths in the country since the start of the pandemic.
Travelling between orange zone regions in Italy, including Piedmont and Valle d’Aosta, has been forbidden by the Italian authorities but there are some exceptions to the rule.
Individuals travelling to a second home and those on the move for work reasons may be exempt.
Reports in Italy suggest Ronaldo and Rodriguez made the trip on Tuesday and stayed overnight at a hotel in the mountains before making their way back to Turin the following day.
Ronaldo tested positive for the virus back in October and had to self-isolate which meant he missed Portugal’s Nations League clash with Sweden.
The former Manchester United and Real Madrid forward was accused of breaking the protocol in place at the time and Italy’s minister for sport, Vincenzo Spadafora, criticised his behaviour.
‘The skills of a certain player don’t authorise them to be arrogant, disrespectful to the institutions and to lie,’ Spadafora told ANSA.
‘Indeed, the more one is known, the more one should feel the responsibility to think before one speaks and to set a good example.
‘I have no intention of continuing indefinitely on this issue. I confirm what I said yesterday regarding the abandonment of the hotel by some Juventus players, based among other things on the club’s communications to the Turin ASL.
‘I will not intervene more on the topic and I renew my wishes for a speedy recovery to all who have tested positive.’
Follow Metro Sport across our social channels, on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
For more stories like this, check our sport page.
MORE : ‘He deserved more time’ – Wayne Rooney speaks out on Chelsea’s decision to sack Frank Lampard
MORE : Rio Ferdinand explains how Manchester United can keep Paul Pogba
