The Portuguese national team star, Cristiano Ronaldo, immediately made a big impact on Saudi Arabian football after strengthening Al Nassr. This was stated directly by the Minister of Sports of Saudi Arabia, Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Faizal.
Yes, Cristiano Ronaldo surprised football fans around the world after deciding to join Al Nassr in early 2023. He joined the team nicknamed Faris Najd after his contract was terminated by Manchester United in November 2022.
The player who is familiarly called CR7 immediately showed quite a brilliant performance while defending Al Nassr. Noted, the former Juventus and Real Madrid bomber has collected nine goals and two assists from 10 matches with Faris Najd.
In addition to his brilliant performance on the field, Cristiano Ronaldo also had a big impact on Saudi Arabian football. Prince Abdulaziz said that the Saudi Arabian League is now being broadcast by 137 channels around the world.
“I will give you an example, only with the arrival of Ronaldo, we have 137 channels around the world broadcasting the Saudi Arabian League,” Prince Abdulaziz said as quoted by Sportskeeda, Tuesday (21/3/2023).
“We wanted that at first but they said they weren’t interested, but because one player has come in now, it’s all over the world,” he added.
Furthermore, Prince Abdulaziz is increasingly optimistic that Saudi Arabian football will continue to develop in a positive direction. He considered Cristiano Ronaldo’s role to be very large in increasing the world’s interest in Saudi Arabian football.
“There is the possibility to come to a new place and grow the sport, and we saw that with the arrival of Ronaldo and how the interest is playing out around the world.”