According to FIFA’s announcement on Thursday, Cristiano Ronaldo’s Saudi Arabian club, Al Nassr, has been prohibited from adding new players to their roster until they resolve a debt with Leicester City.
In October 2021, a FIFA-appointed judge at its players’ status committee ruled that Al Nassr must pay Leicester €460,000 ($513,000), along with an annual interest of 5%. Leicester had filed a complaint in April 2021 due to unpaid additional clauses related to the €18m ($20m) transfer of Nigeria forward Ahmed Musa in 2018.
While Al Nassr, which recently came under majority ownership by the $700 billion sovereign wealth Public Investment Fund (PIF), can still acquire new players, they are not allowed to register them for playing. FIFA stated that the bans on registering new players will be lifted as soon as the debts are settled and confirmed by the relevant creditors.
The signing of Cristiano Ronaldo by Al Nassr as a free agent in January triggered a remarkable spending spree by clubs in the Saudi Pro League, with four of them now being majority-owned by PIF. The sovereign wealth fund is chaired by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman.
