Madrid, June 29 (IANS): Spanish club Real Madrid's Portuguese football star Cristiano Ronaldo announced on Monday the sale of his image rights to Singapore business tycoon Peter Lim, shareholder of fellow Spanish team Valencia.
"I am very excited to announce my latest deal with Mint Media, owned by my good friend, businessman Peter Lim from Singapore, to acquire my image rights," Ronaldo wrote on his social networking site Facebook page.
"This is a very strategic move for me and my management team to take the Cristiano Ronaldo brand to the next level, especially in Asia," the Portuguese star added.
Contract renewal negotiations between Real Madrid and Ronaldo, 30, were focused on these image rights in 2013, when both parties agreed to extend the contract until 2018.
At that time, Portuguese media outlets noted that the player would control more than 50 percent of these rights.