Cristiano Ronaldo will now have his own animated series!

Cristiano Ronaldo's character

Cristiano Ronaldo, the world's leading athlete announced his partnership today with Graphic India, a leading graphic novel and animation producer focused on creating global superheroes, and VMS Communications, a mobile digital marketing and content management company, to create and launch a new character entertainment property, STRIKER FORCE 7, across animation, comics, publishing, gaming and digital content. The deal was put together by leading sports agency Polaris Sports.

"I have always been a fan of superheroes and I'm thrilled to help to create this new animated series," commented Cristiano Ronaldo. "In the same way football connects cultures and people around the world, I believe great animated characters and heroes can do the same and that's why I am excited to bring together these passions of football and superheroes through this project and share it with my fans."

Strike Force 7

"Cristiano Ronaldo has inspired millions of people around the world with his dedication, work-ethic and all-around epic game playing. CR7 is a real-life superhero to a generation and Striker Force 7 will bring together a global team of characters from our world (and others), that are representative of the diversity and coolness of his millions of fans," added Sharad Devarajan, co-creator and producer of the new series and CEO of Graphic India.

We have been working with Cristiano & Polaris Sports for over five years and we can't ask for better partners. Cristiano's name is synonymous with professionalism, dedication and success. That's the reason that he inspires millions of people around the globe. He didn't become the most followed athlete on social media by chance; so developing an animated series of a true icon like Cristiano was a no-brainer for us," commented Diego Guarderas, COO of VMS Communications.

The animated series was created by Cristiano and Devarajan, who will be Executive Producers on the series along with Diego Guarderas of VMS Communications, Polaris Sports team and Jeevan J. Kang, Graphic's EVP Creative who is the lead character designer.

Additional information on release dates on the animated series will be out shortly and fans can visit www.strikerforce7.com to stay updated on new information.

Cristiano Ronaldo is considered the best footballer in the world, having won more individual trophies than any other player, including five "Ballon d'Or", two FIFA the Best player of the year awards and four European Golden Shoes for the best scorer in Europe. Ronaldo has won more than 25 trophies in his career, including league titles in England and Spain, four UEFA Champions Leagues and one UEFA European Championship with Portugal. He's the most followed sportsman in the world with more than 300M fans across his social media accounts. www.cristianoronaldo.com

Catch up on all the latest T20 news and updates here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates