A US official has confirmed that Cristiano Ronaldo will travel to the White House on Tuesday, the same day as Saudi Arabia’s leader, who is currently playing the game.
Ronaldo was not included in Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s official delegation, according to the White House official.
However, he has since been a face of the country’s modernization efforts thanks to his prominent role in the Saudi football league, which is the crown prince’s de-facto ruler who wants to diversify into sports and tourism in order to reduce its dependence on oil revenues.
He has since been accused of sexual assault. Ronaldo denied the accusation of sexual assault against her in a hotel room in Las Vegas in 2009.
I firmly refute the accusations that have been made against me. Rape is an abhorrent crime that goes against everything I profess and believe in,” he said in a 2018 statement.
Because Ronaldo’s accusations couldn’t be proven, US prosecutors in 2019 announced that he wouldn’t face charges.
Ronaldo made the move to Saudi Arabia in early 2023 when he became the head of the Saudi Pro League and Al Nassr, a football team run by the crown prince.
Ronaldo’s pay deal with Saudi Arabia was astronomical in a game in which players are paid out in astronomical amounts. The footballer reportedly received more than $ 500,000 per day, or $ 152 million, annually.
Then, according to Bloomberg, he became football’s first billionaire player with a net worth of $1 and signed a new two-year deal for a rumored $400 million (£300 million). 4bn.
For a 40-year-old football player in his final years of his career, that’s a lot of money.
However, Saudi Arabia has “invested heavily in high profile events and individuals to put the kingdom on the map” in terms of sport and tourism in its effort to become modern, according to Sanam Vakil, director of the Middle East and North Africa program at Chatham House.
Prince Mohammed is “our boss,” according to Ronaldo in an interview with Piers Morgan, a broadcaster.
He spoke about the kingdom’s development projects and his hopes for the 2034 FIFA World Cup being held in Saudi Arabia at a Ministry of Tourism event earlier this month.
Vakil says that Ronaldo is a shiny object while the US president enjoys shiny objects. “
The footballer has loftier goals for the Washington meeting, which is to promote world peace.
Antonio Costa, president of the European Council, presented Ronaldo with a Portugal jersey in July that read, “To president Donald J. Trump is promoting peace. “
He stated to Morgan, “I hope to meet him one day because I really like him.
Source: BBC
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