Cristiano Ronaldo, CR7, has more than 1,300 games in his professional career, which began in 2002. Fominha, thirsty for goals, always wanted to be on the field. His absences from matches, which are rare, were only due to injury, suspension or technical decision.
At the beginning of February 2026, the 40-year-old striker (he will be 41 on the 5th), five times voted the best player in the world (the last time in 2017), decided to miss a match of his own free will.
The Portuguese, who defends Al Nassr, skipped the duel with Al Ryadh in the 19th round (out of a total of 24) of the Saudi Championship.
The reason: dissatisfaction with Saudi Arabia’s PIF (Public Investment Fund), a trillion-dollar sovereign state fund that controls Al Nassr and three other strong first division clubs in the country: Al Hilal, Al Ittihad and Al Ahli.
In Cristiano Ronaldo’s view, the PIF was not prioritizing Al Nassr, who are in close competition with Al Hilal and Al Ahli for the national title, in the transfer window that opened in January and ended this Monday, February 2nd.
I don’t know if he had privileged information, but, on the same day he decided not to play, precisely on the closing date of the window, Al Hilal, who leads Sauditão, announced the signing of French star Karim Benzema, 38, a former CR7 teammate at Real Madrid, who was unhappy at Al Ittihad.
The Portuguese star must have really been possessed, with this one-game strike, to confront a boss who provides him with US$ 230 million (R$ 1.21 billion) per year, between salary and commercial contracts, being the highest paid sportsman in the world, according to Forbes.
He doesn’t care about a punishment for being absent, nor does he need to be. Who is crazy to sanction the guy who put Saudi Arabia on the football world map, starting in 2022?
And he’s obsessed with it: competitive as he is, Cristiano Ronaldo gave up trying to increase his goalscoring record in Saudi Arabia (with 17 goals, he’s one behind Englishman Ivan Toney, from Al Ahli) and trying to get closer to a thousand goals more quickly (a total of 961), a brand that is an obsession for him.
Analyzing sportingly, CR7’s moment of revolt was not the most insightful. As the window has closed, Al Nassr has no way to reinforce the squad. The star’s protest should have been carried out, to have any practical effect, two or three weeks ago.
Even so, he decided to act, clearly to give the PIF an ultimatum, to put pressure on the owner of the money. If there is no change of attitude in the next window (middle of the year), with a focus on Al Nassr, “kiss, kiss, bye, bye”, as Xuxa said.
This “prior notice” works as a strategic maneuver by Cristiano Ronaldo. After all, he is the face of Al Nassr. If he leaves, the PIF knows that the team could fail, in the sense of losing its main poster boy (even though he is already in his forties), in addition to its top scorer.
The Portuguese’s contract with Al Nassr runs until the middle of 2027. If he remains dissatisfied – and he has reason to be, since since he arrived he has only won one tournament (the insignificant Arab Champions Cup, in 2023), which is a misery for someone the size of CR7, and for the size of CR7’s ego –, he could force his departure this year.
If you decide to do so and there is no amicable agreement with the club, the situation could end up in court, as Al Nassr can demand financial compensation. This, however, is unlikely, as it would generate negative press for the Saudi league and could halt the final stretch of the number 7’s career.
The most plausible in this scenario is for PIF/Al Nassr to find a buyer for the star, achieving, the least of evils, financial compensation. How much? The market will tell.
Oh! I was forgetting… Cristiano Ronaldo was fouled in the game he played in? No. Al Nassr won 1-0, with a goal from Senegalese Sadio Mané.
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