Cristiano Ronaldo was excluded from the Al Nassr squad that defeated Al-Riyadh 1:0 and also missed the game in a 2:0 win against Saudi Pro League champions Al-Ittihad.
With their win over Al-Ittihad on Friday night at the Al-Awwal Park, Al-Nassr currently sit second on the league standings, two points ahead of Al-Ahli and just a point behind league leaders Al-Hilal.
In such a heated and close title race, it’s quite eyebrow-raising as to why their talisman would want to exclude himself from the squad without any dispute with his coach or any form of injury or rest given to him. Why did Ronaldo exclude himself?
Karim Benzema Joining Al Hilal
According to several credible sources, one of the major reasons he decided to boycott his team was Al Hilal’s signing of Al Ittihad’s star player, Karim Benzema, who was Ronaldo’s teammate at Real Madrid for nine years.
The main reason why Benzema decided to leave was due to the contract dispute between Karim Benzema and Al Ittihad.
According to ESPN, Karim Benzema felt disrespected by Al Ittihad’s contract offer, as he was in the final years of his contract with the league champions. This prompted Karim to withdraw from the squad, and he began training on his own.
However, the transfer to Al Hilal wasn’t orchestrated by the PIF but by a private Saudi billionaire investor, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal.
According to Supersport, the contract offered by Michael Emenalo, sporting director of the Saudi league, which oversees the contracts of the main players in PIF (Public Investment Fund)-owned clubs, means he will play for free, apart from his image rights remuneration.
Karim made his debut for Al Hilal and instantly got on the scoresheet in the 31st minute of his debut, and ended the game with a hat trick and an assist before getting subbed off in the 72nd minute as Al Hilal ended up winning the game 6:0 against Al-Okhdood.
This transfer has made Ronaldo upset, and brings us to the second reason.
Lack of reinforcements
Due to the Karim Benzema transfer, reports have also mentioned the fact that Ronaldo feels like Al Nassr isn’t backed up enough in the title race, and Al Hilal is being more favoured in the title race due to the Benzema addition, and Al Nassr hasn’t added any new faces in the January transfer window other than midfielder Haydeer Abdulkareem.
According to Sky Sports, when asked about the transfer activity for the winter, Al Nasr manager Jorge Jesus had this to say: “I spoke about the winter period. “We don’t have any openings for foreign players, and the financial situation at Al-Nassr is not good and doesn’t allow it — I hope that one or two, maybe three, players can join us.”
From this we can see that Al Nassr are struggling to register players due to the registration rules, which entail limiting squads to 25 total players, including a maximum of 10 foreign players (8 of any age, 2 born in 2003 or later), and Al Nassr already possess the likes of Ronaldo, Felix, Mane, Coman, Brozovic, Angelo, Inigo Martinez, Simakan and Bento.
A registration rule brought by the Saudi Pro League and coordinated by the Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF) in December 2023, which can also mean that contractually a team can possess over 10 foreign players at the club, but over eight of them can’t feature at the same time.
It was seen as a way to promote their homegrown players and develop both foreign and homegrown young players locally.
Ronaldo’s unhappiness with the suspension of the recruitment team
ESPN also claimed that Ronaldo wasn’t happy with the PIF (Public Investment Fund) decision to suspend Al Nassr’s sporting director Simão Coutinho, as well as the club’s CEO José Semedo.
Arriyadiyah claimed that the Portuguese Al Nasr CEO, José Semedo, was suspended from his duties and financial disbursement powers, and that no requests will be approved without the board of directors’ approval. Mohammed Al-Sakit will be in charge of several decision-making processes within the club.
There was no public explanation for their suspension from duty, but it affected Al Nasr’s winter transfer window, as they were unable to make top signings like those of title rivals Al Hilal.
Is Ronaldo’s Crashout Valid?
Source: LM ARENA
Firstly, in terms of transfer fees spent on players in January, Al Hilal led with £90M on players like Karim Benzema from Al Ittihad, Nader Meite from Rennes, and a few others, while Al Nassr made only a single purchase compared to Al Hilal’s six.
If you look at the money spent on players last season, Al Hilal again spent £100M on players like Darwin Núñez, Theo Hernández, and Yusuf Akcicek. Al Nassr spent £85M on players like Joao Felix, Kingsley Coman and Inigo Martinez, who arrived on a free transfer from Barcelona. Al Ahli and Al Ittihad spent less than the other two clubs.
Then you look at the money spent on players since Ronaldo joined the league in late 2023. Al Ahli have spent an estimated £180M+, and Al Ittihad have spent an estimated £200M+. Both Al Nassr and Al Hilal have spent more than both clubs within this stretch, as Al Nassr have spent £409M and Al Hilal have spent £624M in total on transfers.
From this, you can make some argument about his club getting outspent, and his frustrations are sort of valid here, and mind you, he was rumoured to join Al Hilal for the Club World Cup last summer, but the move did not materialise.
It’s still a fact that he earns more than anyone in the league, is currently the highest-paid footballer in the world, and is an ambassador for the league; he’s not in any way entitled.
A spokesman for the league had a lot to say on Sky Sports, but what stood out to me was this: “Cristiano has been fully engaged with Al Nassr since his arrival and has played an important role in the club’s growth and ambition. Like any elite competitor, he wants to win. But no individual – however significant – determines decisions beyond their own club.
Personally, I believe Ronaldo is in the wrong in this case. No player is bigger than any league, even if he’s the highest-paid or an ambassador for it; you just don’t crash out like that.
A lot of these issues can be resolved amicably or in a different way, and he has no right to decide to go on strike just because you’re not given the players you need to help you challenge for the title, especially not when your team is in a title race like this, and your team needs you the most as their talisman.
At the end of the day, I do envision a scenario where they both agree on something, because the Saudi Pro League needs Ronaldo, as he has helped increase the league’s revenue and viewership.
The league would want to negotiate with him and do their best to keep him in the league, as he is the face of the league globally.