Cristiano Ronaldo is back. Through a social media post in which he only uploaded a photo and a victory-hand emoji, the Portuguese star appeared to signal the end of his strike that had kept him away from Al Nassr for two matches.
As A Bola reported on Monday, the Madeira native will put his team shirt back on and will be available on Saturday against Al Fateh. In principle, he will not travel to Turkmenistan for Wednesday’s Asian Champions League 2 match, although this has not been confirmed.
The image of Cristiano arriving to work at Al Nassr’s facilities suggests he has returned to the routine he had stepped away from two games ago. The Portuguese forward was in fact facing a possible sanction from the Saudi league if he refused to play a third match.
His disagreements with the PIF (Saudi Sovereign Wealth Fund) are behind the entire controversy, although A Bola also reported that Cristiano was demanding payments for club employees that, thanks to his strike, have now been made.
Mohammed Al Sukait, Secretary General of the Al Nassr Board of Directors and Executive Director of Governance, Compliance and Risk, officially resigned from the board, according to a special source cited by Al Riyadhiah. The same source confirmed that Al Sukait justified his resignation for personal reasons without revealing further details. On Monday, Al Riyadhiah revealed that changes were expected at the club in the coming days, including the restoration of administrative and financial powers to Portuguese CEO José Semedo and his compatriot Simão Coutinho, the sporting director.
Al Riyadhiah reported, citing a private source, that Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo, captain of Al Nassr’s first football team, had received promises from the club’s management to correct the mistakes that accompanied the previous phase, in a move aimed at restoring stability at Al Nassr, including settling overdue financial payments owed to club employees.
According to the source, the coming days are expected to bring radical changes to the administrative structure, which could include the dismissal of Abdullah Al Majid, chairman of the board, as part of a package of measures to contain internal tensions, in addition to restoring administrative and financial powers. The source told Al Riyadhiah that one of Al Majid’s interviews angered the Portuguese circle around the team after comments he made about the work of the CEO and the coaching staff led by manager Jorge Jesus.