CELEBRITY
Al Nassr say Ronaldo has no clause in contract to support Saudi World Cup bid
Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr have denied reports that Cristiano Ronaldo has a clause in his contract in which the Portugal forward is to serve as an ambassador for the Gulf country’s 2030 World Cup bid.
The 37-year-old moved to Al Nassr in December after signing a two-and-a-half-year contract estimated by media to be worth more than €200 million (S$286 million).
Media reports on Monday suggested Ronaldo would be paid another €200 million to support Saudi Arabia’s World Cup bid.
“Al Nassr FC would like to clarify that, contrary to news reports, Cristiano Ronaldo’s contract with Al Nassr does not entail commitments to any World Cup bids,” the club said in a statement in the early hours of Wednesday.
“His main focus is on Al Nassr and to work with his teammates to help the club achieve success.”
The oil-rich kingdom, along with Egypt and Greece, is considering a bid to host football’s 2030 showpiece.
The window to submit bids opened in 2022 and the winner will be selected at the Fifa Congress in 2024.
The 2026 edition of the World Cup will be held in the United States, Canada and Mexico, marking the first time the tournament will be shared by three different countries.
Ronaldo’s arrival in Saudi Arabia came just weeks after neighbouring Qatar became the first Arab nation to host the World Cup.
Argentina, led by the Portuguese superstar’s arch-rival Lionel Messi, beat France on penalties in the final following a thrilling 3-3 draw.
Five-time Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldo, who has also won the Champions League five times and holds that tournament’s goal-scoring record, is expected to make his Al Nassr debut on Jan 22 against Ettifaq in the Saudi Pro League.
His first appearance for the club could also come against Messi on Jan 19 as Al Nassr are reportedly set to face French side Paris Saint-Germain in a friendly in Riyadh.
While Al Nassr are adamant that Ronaldo has no involvement in any World Cup bid, Messi was in 2022 announced by the Saudi Tourism Authority as its official brand ambassador.
The country has constantly faced criticism for its poor human rights record and crackdowns on LGBTQ+ issues, and that the luring of Ronaldo is the latest “sports washing” attempt to put the nation in a good light.
The conservative kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund, has undertaken other high-profile sporting ventures, including the purchase of a majority stake in English Premier League club Newcastle United.
It has also bankrolled the lucrative LIV Golf league.
–Reuters/AFP
CELEBRITY
Lionel Messi set to hang boots
![Messi Sets Record Straight Over Hong Kong Absence -](https://www.sportsvillagesquare.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Messi-Sets-Record-Straight-Over-Hong-Kong-Absence.jpg)
Inter Miami will be the last club Argentina captain Lionel Messi plays for, the 36-year-old forward said on Wednesday, adding he feels “a little bit scared” at the thought of the day he decides to retire.
Messi, a World Cup winner with Argentina in 2022, has a contract with the Major League Soccer side until 2025 following his arrival last summer after a spell with French champions Paris St Germain.
“Inter Miami will be my last club. I love playing football. I enjoy everything even more because I am aware that there is less and less left,” Messi told ESPN.
“I’m not ready to leave football. I’ve done this all my life, I love playing football, I enjoy training, the day-to-day, the matches… And yes, there’s always a little bit of fear that it’s all over.”
The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi is preparing with his national team to defend their Copa America title, with the tournament kicking off on June 20 in the United States.
Argentina will take on Canada in the opening match before facing Group A rivals Chile on June 25 and Peru four days later.
-Reuters
CELEBRITY
Bidding opens for Messi napkin that defined soccer great’s career
![](https://www.sportsvillagesquare.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/messi-napkin.jpg)
Bidding began on Wednesday for a napkin on which soccer club Barcelona penned a promise to sign a 13-year-old Lionel Messi – who went on to become one of the game’s greatest players – with early bids reaching almost $300,000.
The napkin was signed in December 2000 when Carles Rexach, then Barcelona’s sporting director, agreed with agent Horacio Gaggioli to recruit the Argentine teenager who went on to become the club’s all-time top scorer.
Bidding for the document, described by auction house Bonhams as “blue ink on a standard Spanish waxy napkin,” was at 220,000 pounds ($274,824.00) shortly after the sale opened, according to the auctioneer’s website.
The online sale closes on May 17 and has a guide price of between 300,000 and 500,000 pounds.
“It was never legally binding, but emotionally it represents the deep link or the beginning of the deep link, that Messi had with Barcelona,” said Bonhams Chief Marketing Officer Marc Sands.
Messi helped Barcelona win 35 titles, making a record 782 appearances and scoring 674 goals. Messi left Barcelona in 2021 and now plays for Inter Miami.
“If you love football, you’ll know all about Lionel Messi and you will know that he defined football for generations. If you want a slice of that action, this is the thing to get,” Sands said.
-Reuters
CELEBRITY
Maradona’s children wants body exhumed
![](https://www.sportsvillagesquare.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/maradona.jpg)
Diego Maradona’s children filed a request with the Argentine Courts on Thursday to move the former football great’s body “to a much safer place” and for fans “to pay tribute” in a mausoleum.
Maradona’s remains lie in a private cemetery on the outskirts of Buenos Aires where he was carried in November 2020 in a massive funeral procession. Only family members are allowed to enter the cemetery.
The mausoleum, called “Memorial del Diez,” is located behind the Casa Rosada, the seat of the executive branch of the Argentine government, and will be open to the public, Veronica Ojeda, mother of Maradona’s youngest son, told local media.
“All the heirs request by common agreement to authorise the transfer to his next destination of eternal rest (…) in a much safer place than the current one,” said the note presented to the court signed by Dalma and Gianinna Maradona, and Ojeda on behalf of Diego Maradona Jr.
“And so that all the Argentine people and the citizens of the world can pay homage to our father who was the greatest Argentine idol.”
The relocation will take place around Oct. 30, the birth date of the 1986 World Cup winner with Argentina, one of the family’s lawyers told reporters.
Maradona died at age 60 in November 2020 from a heart attack. Fans of Napoli and of the Argentine national team worshipped him as the “god of football.”
-Reuters
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