Why Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr Debut Likely Will Be Delayed

Al-Nassr forward Cristiano Ronaldo is likely to miss his first two matches with the Saudi club as he is expected to serve a two-match ban handed down by FIFA for knocking a teenager’s phone out of their hands.

Ronaldo, who signed with Al-Nassr last week, earned the suspension from FIFA due to the incident that took place in April when the former Manchester United forward knocked the cell phone out of the hands of a 14-year-old Everton fan. Ronaldo’s appeal, which was rooted in his claim that he felt “legitimate concern” for his well-being, was denied. Instead, FIFA ruled that Ronaldo acted out of annoyance with the fan.

Even though Ronaldo is no longer part of the Premier League, the suspension still carries over with his transfer to the Saudi side per Article 12.1 of FIFA’s regulations.

Article 12.1 states that “Any disciplinary sanction of up to four matches or up to three months that has been imposed on a player by the former association but not yet entirely served by the time of the transfer shall be enforced by the new association at which the player has been registered in order for the sanction to be served at domestic level.”

Al-Nassr was slated to open their season against Al-Ta’i on Thursday, but the match was postponed to Friday due to heavy rain that impacted the electricity at the club’s stadium in Riyadh.