Cristiano Ronaldo didn’t come to Al Nassr just to play football. His presence was intended to elevate the image, prestige and global visibility of the Saudi Pro League itself.
The contract extension he signed last July, which runs until 2027 and has reportedly earned him almost £488,000 a day, has placed Ronaldo in an unprecedented position in Saudi football history. No other player combines elite sporting prowess with the symbolic role of representing a national soft power strategy on such a scale. He’s not just a footballer; he is a project.
Image or symbol?
Ronaldo is much more than the Al Nassr striker. Attend high-level diplomatic events, meet political leaders and interact with some of the world’s most powerful business figures.
When he declared, “I belong to Saudi Arabia,” It wasn’t a casual observation. It was a statement of identity and position. Ronaldo has embraced a role in which he is not simply an employee of wealthy club owners, but a central figure in a larger national narrative.
And because he was given so much, his expectations grew accordingly. Ronaldo believes Al Nassr should be invested in proportion to his stature. He believes the club that brings his name into the global spotlight should be at the level, if not above, of Al Hilal.
As the January transfer window quietly closed, that feeling of being sidelined began to take hold.
The trigger point
At the same time, Al Hilal, Al Nassr’s direct rival and also under the control of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), completed the signing of Karim Benzema from Al Ittihad.
The contrast was striking. And for a player accustomed to being at the center of power, it was enough to provoke a reaction.
According to A Bola, Ronaldo refused to play the February 2 match against Al Riyadh in protest against the transfer policy. Notably, Benzema himself had previously staged a similar “strike” to force a move.
Two global superstars. Two acts of defiance. A property system. Yet it is precisely here that the limits of individual power become visible.
Right in principle, isolated in practice
From a sporting perspective, Ronaldo’s argument is not without merit. He remains the focal point of Al Nassr’s attack, continues to score goals and maintains elite performance levels at the age of 40.
But football is not a solo performance. A team without depth cannot sustain a long run for the title. The gap between Ronaldo’s personal assessment and the league’s overall strategy began to widen.
What he sees as a footballing necessity clashes with a centrally managed vision that prioritizes balance, optics and long-term planning over individual needs.
When discipline meets discipline
In European football, Ronaldo’s reaction would seem familiar. There, stars of sufficient stature can push clubs into action.
The Saudi Pro League, however, does not operate according to this logic. It’s a top-down system. Power does not reside in the locker room but at a strategic level. PIF hasn’t built this league around one man, even if that man is Cristiano Ronaldo.
This paradox leaves Ronaldo out of sync. He is celebrated as a king, but he never actually sat on the throne.
Saudi Arabia’s massive investments in football have created an environment in which aging superstars earn huge salaries and wield immense image power, but remain fundamentally dependent on state authority. They are indulged, but only within clearly defined limits.
Hitting the roof of power
Ronaldo built his legacy on absolute professionalism. Stories of relentless training, wherever he played, define a man obsessed with winning. Thousands of hours of discipline created Cristiano Ronaldo.
Now, that same figure – synonymous with order and control – has chosen to challenge discipline, giving voice to frustration in a system where power surrounds him from every direction. His refusal to play was not just a protest over the transfer; it was a collision with his own power ceiling.
It’s no longer simply about football, nor about signings. The tension may or may not release. But the moment Ronaldo remained off the pitch he revealed an inconvenient truth: in the desert of power he is not the one who moves the pieces on the chessboard.
The unanswered question remains whether the stars brought in to elevate the league will accept the role of pieces within a pre-established order or continue to clash with a structure that was designed long before their arrival.
Sources: Znews
