vivaronaldo.com

Sir Alex Ferguson has put the frighteners on Real Madrid, and won the first major psychological battle by threatening to use FIFA to stop the blatant public courting up of the Man Utd hitman.

United have been so annoyed by Real’s “tapping-up” of Cristiano Ronaldo, that they warned that world football’s governing body would be alerted. That threat appears to have had the desired effect as Real president Ramon Calderon was forced into an unbelievable back down, stating that his club had no desire to encourage Ronaldo to leave.

Calderon was advised by fellow high-ranking officials at Real to stop commenting about Ronaldo for fear of a FIFA rap. “We have not interfered with United’s contract agreement with Cristiano Ronaldo,” said Calderon.

“I want to clear this up and assure them we are not going to influence any player to break a contract.

“We’re not going to start a conflict. If a club does not want to sell a player, then why would we insist that they do sell him?”

Despite Calderon’s claim that Real will only make an offer for Ronaldo if the player wants to join them, United know the Spaniards are doing all they can behind the scenes to make the move happen.

With Ronaldo having stated his desire to one day play in Spain, the steady drip of flattering comments towards him from Madrid are designed to turn the player’s head sooner rather than later, and the majority of this has been orchestrated clearly on behalf of the Spanish champions by their Sports paper alliance, Marca.

Manchester United has threatened to report Real Madrid to FIFA over the Spanish club’s public and blatant attempts to lure Cristiano Ronaldo away from Old Trafford.

Real Madrid have admitted that they want to buy the United winger, whose 42 goals for the Old Trafford club this season helped United win the Premier League and Champions League trophies.

Although Ronaldo is only 13 months into a five-year deal, Madrid is reported as saying it is willing to pay a world-record transfer of about 60 million pounds (US$118.8 million; €75.6 million) for United’s wide man.

Tired of seeing headlines on a daily basis about Ronaldo’s future, United issued a statement on Tuesday threatening to take action against the Spanish club.

“Manchester United has watched with growing irritation the comments attributed to Real Madrid over their alleged desire to sign Cristiano Ronaldo,” the club said on its Web site. “The facts are: the player is on a long-term contract and his registration is held by Manchester United. The player is not for sale. The club will have no alternative but to report Real Madrid to the world governing body, FIFA, if it continues to behave in this totally unacceptable fashion. These public attempts to unsettle the player are completely against the regulations and the club will not tolerate them any longer.”

United said Madrid’s attempts to buy Ronaldo are also a distraction for the Portuguese national squad as it prepares for next month’s European Championship.

“No one should be in any doubt that Manchester United will do everything in its power to keep its best players,” the club said.

In Sunday’s edition of Spanish sports paper Marca, Real Madrid’s president Ramón Calderón hit back at Sir Alex Ferguson’s previous remarks about the conduct of Madrid in the tug of war over Cristiano Ronaldo.

Fergie had slated Calderón and the Madrid management for attempting to unsettle United front man,  Cristiano Ronaldo via the media - particularly in the pages of Marca - a charge that the president absolutely denies.

“I’m shocked by what he said about us. I don’t understand Ferguson,” he said to Marca.

“Real Madrid have behaved perfectly over the Cristiano Ronaldo issue. What we’ve always said is that he’s a player under contract and that United aren’t a selling club - that’s all.”

Calderón has recently stated that United cannot prevent Ronaldo from one day heading to the Bernabéu, although they clearly can do for at least the next 4 years, as he is currently only in the second year of a five year deal at Old Trafford.

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has rubbished claims over the last week that his top man Cristiano Ronaldo is on his  way out of Old Trafford.

Speaking in Moscow, on the eve of his second Champions League final with Manchester United, when asked about whether Ronaldo would be staying with the new Premiership champions he said: “If you want to put a bet on it I’ll put a big bet on it.”

Fergie oozes confidence that his side can win the European Champions league for the first time since 1999 and he added: “Since we’ve won the championship we’ve had ten days good preparation.

“It’s been a long hard season but I think we’re in our best shape and hopefully good enough to win this trophy.

“There’s a weakness in the amount of European trophies we’ve won and I hope we can go some way to making that better (Wednesday).