Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo arrived in Riyadh ahead of his grand unveiling in front of thousands of fans at Saudi Arabia’s Al Nassr club on Tuesday.
The 37-year-old, who has won the Ballon d’Or five times, arrived in the capital late on Monday night, according to Al Ekhbariya state-run TV. He and his group are staying at a luxury hotel.
“He brought a big team of assistants and even a private security firm,” an official told AFP.
Many police cars and checkpoints are set up around the airport to keep it safe.
Officials say that Ronaldo will play at Al Nassr’s 25,000-seat Mrsool Park stadium in Riyadh at 7:00 pm (1600 GMT) on Tuesday. He left Manchester United under a cloud after criticizing the club on TV.
This could be the end of a long and successful career. It comes just a few weeks after his team, Portugal, lost in the quarterfinals of the World Cup in neighboring Qatar, where his biggest rival, Lionel Messi, won the trophy with Argentina.
Saudi Arabia, which has a lot of money from oil, has moved into Formula One, boxing, golf, and now has bought the English club Newcastle United. The signing of Ronaldo until June 2025 is the latest move by the oil-rich country into top-level sports.
Critics have called this strategy “sportswashing,” which means that the conservative country is trying to draw attention away from its record on human rights.
One official who did not want to be named because he was not allowed to talk to the media said that Al Nassr expects the stadium to be full for the event.
Ronaldo is by far the most famous player to have played in Saudi Arabia, but other big names like George Weah, Pep Guardiola, and Xavi all spent time there at the end of their careers.
The nine-time Saudi league champions, Al Nassr, have said that Ronaldo’s signing is “more than history in the making” and that he will inspire the rest of the league and even the country.
In a tweet, Saudi Sports Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal pledged to “support the rest of our clubs for quality deals with international stars soon”.
During the World Cup, Ronaldo gave an explosive interview in which he said he felt “betrayed” by the club and had no respect for coach Erik ten Hag. This caused United to end Ronaldo’s contract.
The Portuguese forward has long been one of the highest-paid players in football. He reportedly made 33 million euros at Juventus before taking a pay cut to rejoin United.
Ronaldo has won five Champions League titles, as well as league titles in Italy with Juventus, Spain with Real Madrid, and England with United.
He is also the top scorer in the Champions League and with the Portuguese national team, which won Euro 2016.
With his penalty kick in the group-stage win over Ghana in Qatar, he became the first person to score at five World Cups.
