The world’s most followed footballer and arguably its best, Cristiano Ronaldo, parted ways with Manchester United shortly after Portugal’s elimination from the recently concluded 2022 World Cup in Qatar. In related news, Ronaldo’s chief rival for the unofficial title of world’s best player, Lionel Messi of Argentina, left the Middle Eastern nation of Qatar more happily — as a World Cup champion.
But while Messi will return to France and his position with Paris Saint-Germain FC, Ronaldo — in a surprise move — will return to the Middle East. With the Premier League behind him, Ronaldo has elected to play his club ball for the Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr.
The signing marks another high profile move by Saudi Arabia to use sports as a calling card for the country’s future. The creation last year of the LIV Golf Tour, funded by the oil-rich nation’s sovereign wealth fund, was one of the first moves in this strategy. The LIV Tour, despite controversy, has attracted major names in golf like Phil Mickelson and Sergio Garcia, golf’s equivalent (if there is one) of Ronaldo. (Let’s say Messi is soccer’s Tiger Woods.)
In another surprise, the Saudi club’s Ronaldo announcement explicitly mentions “girls” in claiming the signing will inspire “future generations, boys and girls.”
The rights of women in Saudi Arabia have long been a source of scrutiny and scorn from the international community. It was only in 2018, for example, that Saudi Arabian women were granted the right to drive cars.
And while there have been signs of a movement toward greater gender equality in the nation, the situation remains such that a New York Times op-ed headline this year still read: “The West Is Kidding Itself About Women’s Freedom in Saudi Arabia.”
Yet the very mention of girls in the Ronaldo announcement is encouraging. Ronaldo is a family man and the father of two young daughters — and there is little doubt that he influenced the announcement’s tone and content.
With Ronaldo, the Saudi club gets not only a player of high quality, even at 37 in the later stages of his career, but also the major megaphone he brings — with more than 500 million Instagram followers.
Saudi Arabia hopes late-career Ronaldo can do for the country’s soccer what late-career Pele did for American soccer when he joined the New York Cosmos. Interestingly, Pele’s impact may have been felt most keenly by girls, with the American women’s teams rising more swiftly to achieve international soccer prominence than the American men’s teams.
Saudi Arabia is clearly keen on getting its messaging right, and in reaching Ronaldo’s followers where they live. The announcement read (bold is ours):
“History in the making. This is a signing that will not only inspire our club to achieve even greater success but inspire our league, our nation and future generations, boys and girls to be the best version of themselves. Welcome @Cristiano to your new home @AlNassrFC.”
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