Cristiano Ronaldo is in the news again and not because of his determination to surpass 1,000 goals as a professional footballer. The Portuguese, the great emblem … of the Saudi Arabian sports project, has decided to tighten the rope with those who support the football business in the Asian country. The Portuguese will not play this Monday with Al Nassr and, unlike what official versions suggest, his absence is not due to physical discomfort or a rotation plan. It is, according to the newspaper ‘A Bola’, a deliberate gesture of protest against the management of the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), owner of the country’s main clubs because “it complains about the lack of investment in the club.”
Last December 30 marked 3 years since Cristiano Ronaldo signed to Al-Nassr and in this time he has not managed to win any official title – he won the Arab Club Championship, a friendly tournament, although he has scored 117 goals in his effort to reach 1,000 as a professional
The decision has fallen like a bucket of cold water on a league that was built with a checkbook to seduce the stars of European football. Ronaldo considers that the body that finances the championship has tipped the balance in favor of its rivals, especially Al Hilal, current leader and great beneficiary in the last transfer market. While that club has reinforced its squad with notable names – and is even flirting with the incorporation of Karim Benzema after its conflict with Al Ittihad -, Al Nassr has barely added the young Iraqi Haydeer Abdulkareem, an insufficient move for the Portuguese’s aspirations.
961 goals
The Portuguese, who turns 41 next Thursday and is the player who has scored the most goals in professional history (961 goals in 1,308 games), understands that the competition is no longer a balanced field. Al Hilal leads the table with 46 points and Cristiano’s team follows with 43; a minimal difference that turns each reinforcement into a strategic matter to achieve titles and facilitate his goal of being the only millennial scorer.
The Saudi press had attributed his loss against Al Riyadh to a simple rest to prepare for the key duel against Al Ittihad. However, Portuguese media maintain that it is about something much deeper: a plan by the player to force changes in the club’s power structure. The unrest has worsened after the recent loss of influence of two Portuguese directors of Al Nassr, Simão Coutinho and José Semedo, whose powers were curtailed by the board of directors at the beginning of the year.
The episode opens an uncomfortable debate for the new ecosystem of Saudi football. The country has imported talent and spotlights, but also the codes of the big stars, unwilling to accept decisions that they perceive as arbitrary. That the most visible face of the championship refuses to wear shorts for non-sporting reasons shows the cracks in a model based on massive investment and centralized control.
Uncertainty reigns in the club. The absence of its top scorer weakens the team at a decisive moment in the season and places the board in a dilemma: give in to the player’s demands or reaffirm their authority. The fans, divided between devotion to the idol and loyalty to the project, witness a fight that transcends sports.
