Riade, Saudi Arabia – It was no surprise that the announcement of Cristiano Ronaldo’s engagement, the global superstar of football, was accompanied by a photograph of a diamond the size of a giant olive.
However, the place marked in the publication of Instagram – made by her nine -year -old partner, model and influencer Georgina Rodríguez – caught the eye. The photo of the hand adorned with the ring was not shared of Paris, Bora Bora or Dubai, but from Riyadh, in Saudi Arabia.
The capital of the conservative Islamic kingdom is not generally known as a place where global couples travel to celebrate their novels. A decade ago, religious police patrolled the city streets in search of unmarried couples and shouted with women to cover their hair. Sex out of marriage was, until recently, punishable with whip.
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Even as fans celebrated the new engagement, the announcement highlighted the fact that the couple was not married and lived with their children in the Saudi city two years ago.
Riyadh is where a chapter of unofficial marital happiness of Ronaldo unfolded, after he moved there in 2022, under a robust contract to play for the Saudi team Al Nassr. He was accompanied by Rodríguez and his children.
The family seemed to have settled in a comfortable and glamorous life in the kingdom, testing the limits of rapid social changes in Saudi Arabia.
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Since his rise to power began in 2015, heir prince Mohammed Bin Salman, actually ruler of the kingdom, has supervised a series of political changes that made the country, previously ultra -conservative, almost unrecognizable – loosening social restrictions while increasing political repression.
Years ago, simply driving with an unreed male driver could raise questions for women at police stations – a paradox in the kingdom: women could only drive from 2018.
Today, is it not totally clear what is allowed: dating? Cohabitation? Pregnancy out of marriage? There is no written penal code, and several judges interpret Islamic law – the predominant legal doctrine of the kingdom – in different ways. This strategic opacity gives the Saudi government margin to maneuver as social changes happen – occasionally causing public reactions and seemingly random arrests.
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Women sometimes take to the streets of shorts and short tops, despite the public regulations that theoretically prohibit such clothes. Alcohol is illegal, but a black market thrives, and occasionally visibly drunk young people can be seen fighting outside one of the city’s “dried” nightclubs.
The Saudi Government International Communication Center has not responded to a request for commentary on whether sex and cohabitation outside marriage is currently allowed, or if a special exception was granted to Ronaldo, who is 40 years old and native to Portugal.
The representatives of Rodríguez and Ronaldo did not answer questions about the engagement, including whether Saudi Arabia’s social norms influenced the couple’s decision to get married.
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Ronaldo’s change was a great achievement for the Saudi government’s efforts to expand its sports sector and reshape the image of the kingdom – bringing one of the world’s most famous athletes to its conviviality. The most followed person on Instagram, he shared images of life and football in Saudi Arabia, showing a different side of the country.
Rodríguez, 31, model and influencer on social networks that has a program on Netflix, played a key role in this exhibition, participating in events on the red carpet, taking bikini sun outside the couple’s elegant villa and visiting five -star resorts with their children.
Less privileged women who cannot present a marriage certificate usually do not have access to medical care, education or legal residence for their children, and cannot record the birth of babies.
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Feeding rumors and speculation, Ronaldo has referred to Rodríguez several times as his wife. But on his Netflix show, he reassured fans saying they would get married – one day.
“I always tell her, ‘When we feel it’s the moment,” he said.
It was not clear when or where the engagement happened. Rodríguez’s publication on Instagram on Monday had only the caption: “Yes, I accept. In this and in all my lives.”
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In the comments, their Arab followers exchanged jokes, with a person commenting that it was “a very fast engagement!”
Arabic memes marking the occasion with humor spread quickly on the internet, with a common joke saying that he had to work in Saudi Arabia for two years to pay the wedding.
“It was just the period of ‘knowing each other’,” said another meme, accompanied by a photo of the couple with their children-referring sarcastically to the brief phase of dating by the family that some Saudi couples and Arabs pass before they officially marry.
In June, Ronaldo extended his contract in Saudi Arabia for another two years.
“My family always supports me in my decisions,” he said in a video published by the club. “The Saudi people treat us very, very well. That’s why we want to live there and continue our lives there.”
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