Saudi journalist Khaled Al-Shunaif confirmed that Cristiano Ronaldo has returned to Al-Nassr’s training sessions and ended his rebellion against the Saudi Public Investment Fund’s management over the events of the recently concluded winter transfer window.
Ronaldo boycotted Al-Nassr’s training and refused to play in the last Riyadh match to protest the club’s lack of sufficient support for winter signings, which he considered preferential treatment specifically in favor of Al-Hilal, undermining fair competition.
In recent hours, Saudi league officials contacted Ronaldo to persuade him to return to training and cease these actions, which had ignited social media and drawn significant attention to the domestic league.
According to Al-Shunaif, Ronaldo has finally decided to end his rebellion and has returned to Al-Nassr’s group training sessions. He will lead Jorge Jesus’s squad in the upcoming match against Al-Ittihad on Friday in the Saudi league.
The 40-year-old may have been convinced by league officials’ claims that Al-Hilal’s winter signings were made possible by direct financial support from Al-Waleed bin Talal, while the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) maintained neutrality in its dealings with the four major clubs it owns.
Meanwhile, Al-Nassr received substantial support last summer, amounting to €100 million. Thus, the PIF allocated a fair share of the transfer fees to the “Knights of Najd,” explaining their reluctance to make further signings during the recently concluded winter transfer window.
It’s worth noting that Al-Nassr only signed Iraqi player Haider Abdul-Karim and acquired Abdullah Al-Hamdan on a free transfer during the winter window, while Al-Hilal made several major signings, the most recent being Karim Benzema from Al-Ittihad.
