Ronaldo in Saudi Arabia: bigger off the pitch than on

The arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo in Saudi Arabia is not a normal football signing. But there are normal football elements to it, such as excitement from fans.

Jana Mohammed has been supporting Al Nassr for as long as she can remember but, despite celebrating Saudi Arabian league titles, the Riyadh resident has never seen anything like this. "It's a historical moment in our club and in our country," she told DW.

Al Nassr confirmed the signing of Ronaldo on a two-and-a-half-year contract, reported to be worth €195 million per year over, on December 30. Five days later, the five-time UEFA Champions League winner with Real Madrid and Manchester United donned the team's yellow shirt as he was introduced to 25,000 fans at the club's Mrsool Park Stadium.

"Watching Cristiano wearing the yellow and striving to achieve my favorite club's goals and dreams? What an incredible feeling," Jana added. "I believe that yellow suits Cristiano's personality. His mentality reflects our club: ambitious, hard-working and always aiming to be better every day."

That yellow shirt is going to become a great deal more famous outside Saudi Arabia. "With Cristiano, Al Nassr will reposition itself to be the biggest club in Asia," said Jana.

Ayman Al-Hatami, supporter of bitter rivals Al Hilal, who have won 18 league titles and four Asian championships, compared to nine and none respectively for Al Nassr, is dismissive of such claims.

"I remind you that Al-Hilal are the biggest club in Asia," he told DW. "Al Hilal will participate in the Club World Cup while Al Nassr and Cristiano will watch on TV. Cristiano will benefit Al Nasr by increasing their social media account followers only, not their championships."

Off the pitch
Off the pitch though, Ronaldo's powers are greater than ever and he brings unprecedented exposure. The five-time winner of the Ballon d'Or has the most popular account on social media platform Instagram with an incredible 530 million followers, more than double than all 20 clubs in the English Premier League combined, and has already taken Al Nassr to a new level in terms of profile at home and overseas.

It is hoped he will do the same for the league. The country has been a powerhouse in Asia with two continental titles and its clubs have won six Champions Leagues, third behind Japan and South Korea but it lacks a following internationally. That is sure to change but by how much depends on Ronaldo to an extent.

Any famous foreign player who goes to Asia has a responsibility to help improve the team, teammates and the league, but the most famous ever player to arrive on the continent has even more of a duty.

If Al Nassr and the league can develop their operations to make the most out of Ronaldo commercially, then a long-standing brake on Saudi football development may be released.

Saudi Arabia and 2030
Qatar has just hosted the World Cup where Saudi Arabia failed to get past the first round but were the only team to defeat eventual world champions Argentina. Now, Ronaldo's move to Al Nassr is keeping the Arab region in the global football spotlight.

As well as bidding for the 2026 Women's Asian Cup, Saudi Arabia is the only contender to host the 2027 Asian Cup and, in October, was awarded the 2029 Asian Winter Games. Such activity has been linked to the government's Vision 2030 development aimed at diversifying an economy that has long been reliant on oil. Sport and especially football is at the heart of that.

And now, it is likely, so is Ronaldo. One of the most famous football players ever could help bring the biggest sports event. It has been reported that Saudi Arabia may bid to host the 2030 World Cup along with other countries such as Italy, Greece and/or Egypt.

To do that, Ronaldo may end up working harder off the pitch than on it.