Image source, PA Media
- Author, Marie-Josée Al-Qazzi
- Role, BBC Arabic
Football star Cristiano Ronaldo’s statements to a Portuguese channel that he will retire from football “in two or three years”, and that it will “most likely” be with the Saudi club Al-Nassr, have sparked many reactions. Some regretted that “the career of a football legend” should end in this way, with a club that is “not known worldwide” or “a non-Portuguese club.”
“I am happy at this club, and I am happy in this country too. I am happy to play in Saudi Arabia and I want to continue doing so,” Ronaldo said.
He confirmed to Now TV that he will play with the Portuguese national team again and that he will not announce in advance his last match with his country’s national team. What also surprised the audience was the Portuguese veteran’s statement that he had not thought about trying coaching at all.
Ronaldo’s statements have disappointed many, but it seems that one of the best players in football history has different calculations. His statements are consistent with what we have seen recently of various projects he is launching, which have nothing to do with the basis of his talent and fame.
Why Saudi Arabia?
Image source, Reuters
In a phone call with BBC Arabic, sports journalist Wadih Abdel Nour pointed out that Cristiano Ronaldo’s recent statements were not conclusive and decisive regarding his future, but rather left the door open to different possibilities and interpretations.
Abdel Nour believes that some people’s surprise at Ronaldo’s talk is unjustified, explaining that the Portuguese star, “despite being an exceptional athlete with great fitness and talent, is 39 years old. This age, even for an athlete like him, will inevitably affect his performance in the major European leagues known for their high physical demands and fierce level of competition, such as the Italian, English and Spanish leagues in which he previously played.”
He added: “It is true that the Saudi league is witnessing remarkable development and is expanding to include more stars, but the pace of pressure in it is still less than in the major European leagues. If Ronaldo wants to continue to shine and maintain his prominent position in these leagues, this will require him to exert more effort and maintain a higher pace of performance.”
“Ronaldo has achieved everything possible at club level, and although his participation in the next World Cup may be difficult, he continues to achieve records with his national team, and he already holds the record for the number of international appearances,” he added.
On the other hand, Abdel Nour points out that Ronaldo represents the face of the Saudi football development program, which is part of the Vision 2030 launched years ago by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. This vision aims to modernize the Kingdom, boost tourism and diversify the economy, in preparation for a post-oil world.
Abdel Nour added that Ronaldo is “a pivotal figure that they focus on in their marketing efforts, which has made him an ambassador for the goals that the Kingdom seeks to achieve, whether in the field of football or even in other tourism projects.”
Ronaldo has recently been posting videos on his social media pages encouraging people to visit Saudi Arabia and showing the newly developed tourist facilities there.
Returning to sports, Saudi Arabia is preparing to host the 2027 Asian Football Cup and is the only candidate to host the 2034 World Cup at the present time, with Australia withdrawing its candidacy.
In 2022, the Kingdom won the right to host the 2029 Asian Winter Games, which will be held in Trojena, in the city of Neom.
A few days ago, Ronaldo appeared as a guest of honor alongside the President of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) at the “World Cup for Electronic Sports” events, wearing traditional Saudi dress.
“The level of attention and aura that Ronaldo has,” Abdel Nour says, “has not been given to any other big player in the Saudi league.”
Ronaldo’s contract with Al-Nassr Club ends at the end of 2025.
“The hero never dies”
Image source, Getty Images
“I don’t think at the moment about becoming a first-team coach or any other team. It doesn’t cross my mind, I’ve never thought about it. I don’t see my future in that,” Ronaldo told Now. “I see myself doing other things outside of football, but only God knows what the future holds.”
Abdel Nour believes that Ronaldo also left the door open in this statement and that his decision not to undertake the coaching experience was not surprising, as “a person with Ronaldo’s aura should count to ten before undertaking the coaching experience.” This is because “if the achievements he made as a player are not translated into coaching, big question marks will be raised about him.”
He added: “We remember the great aura that Maradona enjoyed as a player, which was focused on his personality, but in terms of training techniques, there were coaches much better than him, and he did not achieve great results or leave a mark in this field.”
“Not every great player can become a great coach, and not every great coach was a great player, and we give Jose Mourinho as an example of that.”
Some fans, Abdel Nour says, “treat stars as if they are their property and must meet their desires and expectations.” The player must live up to their expectations, “always brilliant, always successful, and invincible. A champion never dies.”
He adds: “It is not necessary for a successful football player or a successful scorer, even if he breaks records, to be able to copy his successful personal experience as a player, which he alone controls, in terms of coaching a team consisting of other players.”
He believes that Ronaldo, who has remained at this level of physical fitness and this image to this age, must have required “a lot and a lot of sacrifice and commitment beyond imagination” that the public knows little about, and is often harsh in judgment.
Ronaldo’s Business Empire
Ronaldo’s recent statements about his future outside the world of football seem to be in perfect agreement with the steps he has recently begun to announce.
Last week, Ronaldo launched his own YouTube channel, and through it he was also able to break a new record outside the football field, by collecting 30 million subscribers to the channel within two days.
Ronaldo is considered to have the largest number of followers on social media, with a total of more than 919 million followers on Instagram, Facebook and X alone.
His latest move, which also involved his partner Georgina Rodriguez, seems to be a prelude to his future life outside the world of football, and a continuation of what he began building years ago in his “business empire.”
This empire includes a hotel chain in Madeira, the island where he grew up in Portugal, and a chain of restaurants in various countries around the world in partnership with the veteran Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal.
In addition, he owns shares in several companies, the latest of which was in a company that manufactures luxury Portuguese porcelain artifacts, in addition to being the main shareholder in a Portuguese media group that includes television and newspapers, according to the Spanish newspaper El Pais.
“The game has changed in general and is no longer simple. There is now a lot of money, marketing and calculations that control the market and the image,” Abdel Nour told the BBC.
Ronaldo is the all-time leading scorer in football history with 898 goals, 130 of which have come at international level. He is also Real Madrid’s all-time leading scorer with 450 goals.
Ronaldo will be presented with a special award at the Champions League draw in Monaco on Thursday by UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin, in recognition of his achievements in the competition.
Ronaldo has scored 140 goals in 183 Champions League matches, a record in the history of the competition, 11 more than Lionel Messi and 46 more than third-placed Robert Lewandowski.
Ronaldo has won the Champions League five times, four times with Real Madrid and once with Manchester United.