A Seoul court has sided with spectators who filed a civil suit against organizers after football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo sat out a 2019 friendly match.

The Seoul Central District Court on Wednesday issued a partial victory for 449 plaintiffs who demanded compensation from The Fasta, the company that organized the controversial match with the club Juventus two years ago. 

The court ordered the firm to pay each plaintiff half of the ticket price and an additional 50-thousand won as consolation money.

The spectators argued that the organizers said the Portuguese footballer would play in the friendly held in Seoul against the K League All Stars, but Ronaldo sat on the bench. They demanded 480 million won in compensation. 

The incident brought about similar lawsuits against the organizing firm and in all previous cases, the court sided with the plaintiffs.