Ronaldo in Saudi Arabia: bigger off the pitch than on

The arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo in Saudi Arabia is not a normal football signing. But there are normal football elements to it, such as excitement from fans.

Jana Mohammed has been supporting Al Nassr for as long as she can remember but, despite celebrating Saudi Arabian league titles, the Riyadh resident has never seen anything like this. "It's a historical moment in our club and in our country," she told DW.

Al Nassr confirmed the signing of Ronaldo on a two-and-a-half-year contract, reported to be worth $210 million (€195 million) per year over, on December 30. Five days later, the five-time UEFA Champions League winner with Real Madrid and Manchester United donned the team's yellow shirt as he was introduced to 25,000 fans at the club's Mrsool Park Stadium.

"Watching Cristiano wearing the yellow and striving to achieve my favorite club's goals and dreams? What an incredible feeling," Jana added. "I believe that yellow suits Cristiano's personality. His mentality reflects our club: ambitious, hard-working and always aiming to be better every day."

That yellow shirt is going to become a great deal more famous outside Saudi Arabia. "With Cristiano, Al Nassr will reposition itself to be the biggest club in Asia," said Jana.

Ayman Al-Hatami, supporter of bitter rivals Al Hilal, who have won 18 league titles and four Asian championships, compared to nine and none respectively for Al Nassr, is dismissive of such claims.

"I remind you that Al-Hilal are the biggest club in Asia," he told DW. "Al Hilal will participate in the Club World Cup while Al Nassr and Cristiano will watch  on TV. Cristiano will benefit Al Nasr by increasing their social media account followers only, not their championships."

Off the pitch

He may be right but that is perhaps the point of the deal. It is debatable as to whether Al Nassr, who went four points clear at the top of the Saudi Professional League two days after the player arrived in Riyadh, need the 37-year old on the pitch.

Off it though, his powers are greater than ever and he brings unprecedented exposure. The five-time winner of the Ballon d'Or, the annual prize given to the world's best player, has the most popular account on social media platform Instagram with an incredible 530 million followers, more than double than all 20 clubs in the English Premier League combined, and has already taken Al Nassr to a new level in terms of profile at home and overseas.

It is hoped he will do the same for the league. The country has been a powerhouse in Asia with two continental titles and its clubs have won six Champions Leagues, third behind Japan and South Korea but it lacks a following internationally. That is sure to change but by how much depends on Ronaldo to an extent.

Any famous foreign player who goes to Asia has a responsibility to help improve the team, team-mates and the league, but the most famous ever player to arrive on the continent has even more of a duty.

"Everything depends on his attitude in the group," Sven Vandenbroeck, who left his job as head coach of Saudi Arabia club Abha in October, told DW. "Will his team-mates accept him? Is the coach able or willing to accept all the side effects?"

For the Belgian coach, there are bigger issues in Saudi Arabian football.

"They must increase the level of the local players to become a better league and the clubs must urgently improve to create more stability and bring a mindset of growth." 

If Al Nassr and the league can develop their operations to make the most out of Ronaldo commercially, then a long-standing brake on Saudi football development may be released.

Saudi Arabia and 2030

Qatar has just hosted the World Cup where Saudi Arabia failed to get past the first round but were the only team to defeat eventual world champions Argentina. Now, Ronaldo's move to Al Nassr is keeping the Arab region in the global football spotlight.

"Gulf nation spending on football is of course an illustration of power, notably economic power," Simon Chadwick, Professor of Sport & Geopolitical Economy at SKEMA Business School, told DW, explaining that the sums invested are not done without purpose and that returns are expected.

"There are geopolitical, economic, and sociocultural benefits associated with what the likes of Saudi Arabia are doing," he said.

As well as bidding for the 2026 Women's Asian Cup, Saudi Arabia is the only contender to host the 2027 Asian Cup and, in October, was awarded the 2029 Asian Winter Games. Such activity has been linked to the government's Vision 2030 development aimed at diversifying an economy that has long been reliant on oil. Sport and especially football is at the heart of that.

And now, it is likely, so is Ronaldo. One of the most famous football players ever could help bring the biggest sports event. It has been reported that Saudi Arabia may bid to host the 2030 World Cup along with other countries such as Italy, Greece and/or Egypt.

"To an extent the Saudi Arabians are following the same game plan as Qatar ahead of its bid to host and then staging of the Qatar World Cup," explained Chadwick.

"The authorities in Doha actively deployed ambassadors and influencers to shape perceptions of and attitudes towards the country, with the intention of influencing behaviors. Now that Saudi Arabia has acquired an asset apparently for the purposes of submitting a World Cup hosting bid, the country will need to sweat that asset."

To do that, Ronaldo may end up working harder off the pitch than on it.

Edited by: Matt Ford