Al Nassr announced the signing of Cristiano Ronaldo on December 30 and presented him to the world and the fans on January 3, but the debut is broken and it may not be so soon. The Saudi leaders are optimistic and according to a club source against AFP, the Portuguese could be used with Ettifaq in the Saudi championship on January 22 with Ettifaq. Will be?
One of the many obstacles to the immediate use of CR7 was resolved this Saturday. Al Nassr terminated the contract with Cameroonian Vincent Aboubakar (ex-FC Porto), thus opening up a vacancy to register Ronaldo, as the maximum number of foreign players set by the Saudi Football Association is eight. The curious thing is that the Cameroonian is appointed to the position of winger at Manchester United.
It was also necessary to pay a debt to Giuliano, the Corinthians midfielder who represented the Saudi club between 2018 and 2020, which prevented Al Nassr from signing any players. The debt of six million euros was paid two days after the presentation of the captain of the Portugal national team, allowing FIFA to withdraw transfer ban applied to the club.
But there are even more obstacles. The player will still have to serve a two-match ban inherited from his Manchester United days (for throwing a young autistic supporter’s mobile phone on the ground). According to a Saudi club source to AFP, Cristiano Ronaldo will be available for the home game against Ettifaq on January 22, as he has completed the suspension games against Al Ta’ee (on Friday) and Al. Shabab (day 14).
However, under FIFA rules, a player’s suspension can only be fulfilled once the player has been registered and as Ronaldo was only registered as a player for Al Nassr this Saturday… he will not be able to officially make his debut until the 26th, against Al Ittihad has not been a player for the club since Friday, when Pepa’s Al Ta’ee match took place.
For DN, Al Nassr does not clarify the doubt. However, the unofficial debut could take place on the 19th, when a joint team of Al Nassr and rivals Al Hilal will play at PSG. The Saudis had scheduled a friendly match with the French in January last year, which was eventually postponed due to the pandemic and should now be played. If PSG uses its best weapons, there will be a duel between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in Riyadh on the 19th.
Source: DN
