Cristiano Ronaldo should have just kept his hands away from his pelvic area.
The global soccer star has been suspended for one match for Al Nassr’s next game because of his obscene gesture.
He also will pay a fine of 20,000 Saudi Riyals ($5,333) to Al-Shabab, forking over half of that amount to the Saudi Arabia Football Federation.
chant “Messi” during Al Nassr’s win on Sunday. @TF_Video/X
Ronaldo will not play in Thursday’s match against Al-Hazm.
All of that stems from an obscene gesture that Ronaldo made toward Al-Shabab fans after Al Nassr defeated them on Sunday.
Footage shot by fans showed Ronaldo cupping his ear and then gesturing with his hand in a thrusting motion around his groin area.
He appeared to be responding to fans who were chanting “Messi,” referencing Ronaldo’s soccer rival Lionel Messi.
The gesture created quite a stir in Saudi Arabia and led SAFF’s Disciplinary and Ethics Committee to launch an investigation. Eventually, the punishment was handed down early Thursday morning (Saudi Arabia time) in the Middle East nation.
The decision is not open to an appeal.
Ronaldo had broken his silence on the incident on Wednesday.
“I respect all clubs,” Ronaldo said, according to the Daily Mail. “And the joy after the [game] expresses strength and victory, and it is not shameful. We are used to it in Europe.”
Reports out of Saudia Arabia also said Ronaldo told the same thing to the Disciplinary and Ethics Committee when he spoke with them.
Ronaldo has had 34 goals in 25 games for Al-Nassr this season.
In April 2023, Ronaldo was involved in another instance where he made an obscene gesture toward opposing fans by grabbing his crotch as he walked off the field in a game against Al-Hilal.
In a game earlier this year, Al-Hilal fans again got under the skin of Ronaldo and threw a scarf at him, which the footballer rubbed in his shorts and then threw away.
