Amid FA ban, will Cristiano Ronaldo make his Al-Nassr debut? Here's latest update

Saudi Arabian side Al-Nassr are all set to face Al-Ta’ee, two days after unveiling Cristiano Ronaldo as an Al-Nassr player at their home ground. While Ronaldo has been out of action since Portugal’s exit from the FIFA World Cup 2022, fans were hopeful of seeing the 37-year-old make his first appearance in the Saudi Arabian league as quickly as possible. Ronaldo reportedly signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with Al-Nassr that will fetch him a salary of approximately $200 million per year.

However, it is pertinent to mention that Ronaldo has been banned from making his debut on Thursday by the English Football Association. Prior to joining Al-Nassr, Ronaldo exited Manchester United in controversial fashion after lashing out at the Premier League club in a bomb-shell interview with Piers Morgan. United then terminated his contract, which paved the way for his move to Saudi Arabia. 

He won’t be making his debut for his new club on Thursday though, as he is suspended due to a punishment by the FA for slamming an Everton supporter’s phone out of his hand. In November, Ronaldo received a two-game ban and was also fined by the FA for the incident involving an autistic fan at Goodison Park in April. As the 37-year-old didn’t feature in any game for United after the announcement, he will serve the punishment now.

When will Cristiano Ronaldo make his Al-Nassr debut?

The suspension bars Al-Nassr from playing the star footballer until they have played two games that the five-time Ballon d’Or winner is available for.

Article 12.1 of FIFA’s Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players says, “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.” Ronaldo is most likely to make his debut for Al-Nassr against Ettifaq on January 21.