Al-Nassr Captain Ronaldo ends protest after all demands met
Portuguese National Football Legend Cristiano Ronaldo, who is also leading Saudi FC Al Nassr, has finally ended protest after all his demands are met
Riyadh: Portuguese National Football Legend Cristiano Ronaldo, who is also leading Saudi FC Al Nassr, has finally ended protest after all his demands are met.
Why Ronaldo was protesting?
Ronaldo was absent from Al-Nassr’s last two matches against Al-Riyadh and Al-Ittihad in protest. Al Nassr Fc won both the matches. Ronaldo had accused Saudi Public Investment Fund’s (PIF) management of bias.
He alleged the Saudi PIF is favouring rival football clubs, especially Al Hilal. Besides Al Nassr FC, the Saudi PIF also owns Al-Hilal, Al-Ahli Saudi and Al-Ittihad.
The row started after French star footballer Karim Benzema, who was playing for Al-Ittihad since 2023, was transferred to Al-Hilal. Ronaldo believed Al Nassr should have taken lead and acquired Benzema so as to strength the leading football club.
Al Hilal is currently leading the Saudi Pro League 2025/26 Table ahead of Al-Nassr.
There were some other issues also that Ronaldo raised for his club and also teammates.
All his demands have been met, and the highest goal scorer in internal football will be back on ground when Al-Nassr plays Al Fateh on February 14, 2026.
Ronaldo is also likely to play in the Al-Nassr vs Arkadag AFC Cup Round of 16 Wednesday February 11, 2026.
Ronaldo’s Demands
According the Saudi Pro League sources, Cristiano Ronaldo returned to ground form Al-Nassr after approval of all his demands, including:
- Restoring powers to both Executive Director Semedo and Sports Director Cemo.
- Resuming win bonuses for the team, after they were suspended since the seventh round.
- Restoring spending powers related to the first team's daily expenses, which were frozen by a decision at the end of December.
- Restoring negotiation powers with new players during the summer transfer window, in addition to contract renewals.
Saudi Pro League crisis ended
Ronaldo’s protest had sparked a major crisis for the Saudi Pro League, and also for the league’s prestige.
Saudi’s are not known for protest and agitation. Hence, some media outlets ran a campaign against the star footballer, urging the Saudi PIF and Al-Nassr management to “show Ronaldo his place.”
Ronaldo, who has built up a huge fan following in the Kingdom, however trumped and again defeated his critics.
With this a major crisis Saudi Pro League was facing has ended.
With a total goal of 961, the 41-year-old footballer is currently aiming to become the only footballer in the world to score 1,000 goals.
[Zohair Mohammed Safwan Faizee is Staff Writer at ummid.com]
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