By John Ensor • Published: 20 Apr 2023 • 13:35
Ex-Real Madrid and Man United footballer, Cristiano Ronaldo Credit: ph.FAB/Shutterstock.com
Furious Saudi football fans called for Cristiano Ronaldo to be deported on Wednesday this week, after the Portuguese superstar grabbed his genitals at the end of his team’s match against Al Hilal on Tuesday, according to Marca, Thursday, April 20.
Nouf bin Ahmed, a Saudi lawyer commented on Twitter that she intends to lodge a complaint with the Saudi Public Prosecutor’s Office against the footballer whom she has accused of committing ‘a crime of public indecency.’
After viewing the footage, bin Ahmed an international law lawyer added, ‘It is considered a crime of public indecency, and is one of the offences that entails arrest and deportation if committed by a foreigner.’
One of Saudi Arabia‘s top sports programmes, Action ya Dawri, hosted by Mohamed al Anzi, spent hours debating Ronaldo’s actions.
Sources from Ronaldo’s team, Al Nassr, said the Portuguese player made the gesture because he “received a blow during the match” to his genitals.
Another Saudi sports reporter, Ozman Abu Bakr, was somewhat harsher in his appraisal of Ronaldo and called the action, “an immoral and impolite gesture against the spectators” and called for the Saudi Arabian Football Federation to terminate his contract.
At the end of the game, rival supporters inside the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh sang ‘Messi! Messi! Messi!’ in an obvious attempt to provoke an already disgruntled Ronaldo.
In response, the video clip shows Ronaldo trudging off the field and crossing the touch line just past the media cameramen, before grabbing his crotch and moving it around. Seconds later he looks up at the taunting fans with a big grin across his face
Final result: Al Hilal 2-0 Al Nassr.
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Originally from Doncaster, Yorkshire, John now lives in Galicia, Northern Spain with his wife Nina. He is passionate about news, music, cycling and animals.
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