CRISTIANO RONALDO has been threatened with legal action over an ‘eyesore’ rooftop glass gazebo at his £6.5million Portuguese penthouse.
The Lisbon apartment block’s design architect, Jose Mateus, has pledged to take the football star to court unless he removes it.
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On Friday, the Lisbon-based architect accused Ronaldo of ‘scoring an own goal’ and ‘dishonouring his work’ in an astonishing attack on the Juventus forward.
Lisbon planning chiefs have now announced they are investigating.
Mateus raged: “The admiration and respect I had for Cristiano Ronaldo, an excellent and inspirational athlete and an example for all that that I highlighted many times to my children and pupils, has been shattered.
“To witness the lack of respect and the ignoble dishonouring of our work, of our architecture, without having the consent of the architects, neighbours and without a project approved by Lisbon’s Municipal Chamber, is something I’m not going to watch standing still.”
Mateus revealed his shock after seeing photos of the closed gazebo on the rooftop terrace of Ronaldo’s new 13th-storey home, the most expensive apartment ever sold in Portugal.
He added: “I was shocked and surprised when I saw what had been built on top of the building.”
Claiming the gazebo could never be legalised because it meant the apartment block now breached maximum height restrictions, Mateus told Portuguese media: “I will fight this all the way.
“There are authors’ rights, and a legal framework and all this has to be respected.
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“I don’t think it’s going to be necessary but if this structure isn’t demolished I would obviously go to court over this.”
Lisbon City Hall, appearing to confirm the rooftop structure had been erected without planning consent, confirmed in a statement: “No request or authorisation exists post 2020 asking for alterations to the project designed by the architect Jose Mateus.
“We will be looking into this and making sure the law is adhered to.”
Lisbon mayor Fernando Medina added: “Lisbon City Hall will look into this situation and act accordingly.”
Pictures show the small glass-fronted structure crowning the top of the city centre building where the dad-of-four is now relaxing.
Cristiano was identified in January 2020 as the buyer of the penthouse apartment.
When he purchased it for a reported £6.5m, it was described as the most expensive ever sold in Portugal.
The 36-year-old dad-of-four was pictured leaving his new home on Wednesday with girlfriend Georgina Rodriguez after spending his first night there following the end of the Italian league season.
The 3,000 square foot three-bed apartment has its own gym, pool, sauna and cinema.
Earlier this year it emerged Ronaldo’s interior designers had to call in a crane to get a giant new bed into the master bedroom of the penthouse, ordered as part of a makeover.
The transformation of the property is also said to have included a £300,000 Louis Vuitton mural Cristiano ordered for the entrance hall.
The gazebo is said to have been erected in place of a pool and a lounge area which appeared on design models before the property was sold.
Mateus, founder of ARX Portugal Arquitectos with his brother Nuno, raged in a Facebook post: “There is culture, there are authors, there are rules…
“There is respect for others and for the work of others, there is civility, there are principles I do not accept being trodden on, whoever it is.
“Countless times I was thrilled with the art of CR7, I was thrilled with his extraordinary goals.
“Today he scored an own goal, one that will be engraved on me forever, in my architecture, and in the form of profound contempt.”
There was no immediate response from Cristiano or his agents Gestifute, who have been approached for a comment.
The apartment at the centre of the gazebo scandal is expected to be one of four homes Cristiano and his family will divide their time between when he retires from football.
Ronaldo is also having a new mansion built on the Portuguese Riviera, close to the coastal town of Cascais.
The Juve ace also owns a £4.8m mansion on a gated fortress estate called La Finca near Madrid and a seven-storey apartment block overlooking the Atlantic Ocean in the Madeiran capital Funchal.
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
