Official: Cristiano Ronaldo joins Al Nassr

I'm really not in the mood for a rant. So I keep it low key. Many of us share the opinion that there is so much wrong in high end football. Way too much money, too much business, too few authenticity. So it would be naive to expect from a player like Ronaldo to make this overheated world of football better. It is simply not his job - or at least he doesn't see it as a mission to do something against it. Fair enough, it is his profession. Many times Ronaldo has been praised for the philanthropy - and for good reason. Even though e.g. his donations to Palestinian NGOs might be interpreted as PR to get more followers in the arabic/muslim world. Whatever - no one can see into CRs head.

Now Ronaldo does actively and officially support the Saudi sportswashing. A country that continues to sentence people to death in grossly unfair trials. A country where blogger Raif Badawi was sentenced to 1,000 strokes of the cane and ten years in prison simply for exercising his right to freedom of expression and criticizing conditions in the country on his blog. A country where women still suffer from blatant discrimination. Well - no wetern arrogance here: We are far from perfect. But the above mentioned abuses are not some outcome of a decadent society - no, they are the official doctrine. They are the law. Sure it is not Ronaldos job to make the world a better place - he might have done more in that respect already as each of us. Sure 1000 times more than me.

But there is a but. Yes a BUT in capital letters. Ronaldo is not to blame for all this. But it has to be accepted, that with his transfer to Riad, he is the absolute No. 1 poster-boy of all people on earth who justify everything with “money makes the world go round”. Look at Gianni Infantino. The one Infantino that moved to Dubai. He surely loves that move of Ronaldo. Because the middle east commands in football. Because there is even “mo’ money”. Infantino is one of the top-gravediggers of football (amongst many others) and promotes all the negative development I mentioned in the beginning of this comment. Ok ok, he does it because he can. And there are others. With the move to Riad, Ronaldo gives the statement to 100% agree with all the Infantinos, the Platinis, the Mendes’, the etc. etc. who have the philosophy: I don’t care where I am as long there is lots of money. He actively becomes one of these gravediggers. He is now promoted into the league of the Infantinos.

Of course Ronaldo behaves like a professional football player who wants to get the best contract, right?. Many do this and most of them would also sign that one. He also has become the No. 1 ambassador of all those who spoil the joy of the beautiful game even for the most die hard football lovers. And for that I hate him. And I have the right to do so. I just don’t want to see that face anymore.

"You dare to drop critical words on king Ronaldo? He earns much more than you. Where is YOUR Bugatti?" Everything is just "inveja". That is usually how the prisoners of the Ronaldo sect let any criticism of their god roll off. And that might be the answer I get from those apologists. So be it, I really don't care.

I'm happy for him. He has nothing left to prove. He's won it all done it all. Been the best in the world for many many years, been the best in three of the top four leagues in the world. He's an absolute legend and will undeniably go down as one of the top four greatest ever alongside Pele, Maradona, Messi. He was always my favorite player and still is, and in my view he is the greatest! Always been an example of true dedication work ethic true will power winning mentality matched with his talent which he harnessed to the maximum throughout his career to create absolute spectacles on the football pitch! The likes of which we may not ever see again. Sure I would've liked to see him continue in Europe a bit more, but its all good. Ronaldo is a businessman as well and this is an incredible offer which he can use to further his other ventures too. Its always good to be where you are loved and wanted and so its all fair. I'm glad he's getting this move and he can take care of his family and others even more in the future. It'll be interesting watching some of his games in the Saudi league. Wishing him all the best! Força Cristiano!

Most of us or probably all of us commenting here can't grasp how much 200M is. It'll make Ronaldo a billionaire which is top 10 wealthiest people in Portugal and one of the around 3300 billionaires in the world. That's top 0.00004% of the global population, and he still gets to play football for a living. If Ronaldo would've been 25 and would've accepted this deal, I would've been disappointed but at the age of 37 (38 in one month), it would be stupid not to take it.

One thing I am not sure about, maybe someone knows the answer: Does Ronaldo have to be an ambassador for the Saudi-Egypt-Greece world cup bid in 2030?

If so, I think that is definitely going to be a issue. How is the greatest player in Portuguese history going to go against Portugal-Spain world cup bid.