Posts claiming Cristiano Ronaldo offered to play for Saudi Arabia are unverified
A number of users on various social media platforms are sharing posts claiming Saudi Arabia has offered Cristiano Ronaldo honorary citizenship and an option to represent Saudi Arabia if he wants to continue playing International Football
[(R) Cristiano Ronaldo announcing his retirement from International Football on November 05, 2026.]
Ummid.com Fact Check: A number of users on various social media platforms are sharing posts claiming Saudi Arabia has offered Cristiano Ronaldo honorary citizenship and an option to represent Saudi Arabia if he wants to continue playing International Football.
These posts, unfortunately for the CR7 fans, are unverified, fake, fabricated, untrue and not backed by official sources.
Cristiano Ronaldo had three days ago announced his decision to retire from International Football. Ronaldo announced his decision to retire after a public spat with the Chief Coach of the Portugal national football team Jorge Jesus. Things became worst after Ronaldo was fined and suspended by the Portuguese FA for leaving the national team camp following the rift with the Jesus over his role in the side.
After the spat, Ronaldo first stopped playing for the Portugal national team, and later announced to retire from International Football. This, despite the fact that the Portuguese football team management, in order to ease out the tension between Jesus and Ronaldo, sent feelers so that the legendary footballer resumes playing with his country’s national football team.
Cristiano Ronaldo declined, and instead announced to retire from International Football.
Following Ronaldo’s announcement to retire, the posts claiming that the Portuguese footballer has been offered honorary Saudi citizenship and an option to represent the Kingdom if he wants to continue playing International football.
Fact check of the viral posts
Some users have cited “Riyadh Today” as the source of their posts.
“Saudi Arabia has offered Cristiano Ronaldo honorary citizenship and an option to represent Saudi Arabia if he wants to continue playing International football… Riyadh Today”, a social media user wrote on X.
Similar posts are also viral on Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp and other platforms.
A fact check analysis by Team ummid.com revealed that there is no newspaper or digital media outlet by the name “Riyadh Today”.
Yes, there is an online newspaper by the name “Riyadh Daily” which is published from the Saudi Capital Riyadh. But, no publication by the name “Riyadh Today” is available either from Saudi Arabia or any other part of the world.
Moreover, the "Riyadh Daily" or other publications from Saudi Arabia have not published any such report.
FIFA Rule on switching national teams
Saudi Arabia cannot make this type of offer also because FIFA Eligibility Rules does not permit such switch-over.
Under the FIFA regulations, a player cannot switch national team allegiance after having already played official competitive matches for another country.
Hence, Cristiano Ronaldo, who has already played for Portugal, his home country, cannot switch to Saudi Arabia and regardless of residency or honorary citizenship offers, this is legally impossible for the legendary footballer.
Road ahead for Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo is residing in Saudi Arabia since December 2022. He came to Saudi Arabia after signing a contract with Saudi Pro League Champion Al-Nassr Football Club (FC).
So, even though Ronaldo has announced retirement from International Football, he will continue to play for football clubs, and make new records.
Ronaldo has so far scored 985 goals in his career. This is the highest by any footballer in the world.
The Portuguese footballer is now eyeing to score 1,000 goals – a milestone no footballer has achieved so far.
And, the way he is playing for Al-Nassr FC in the ongoing Saudi Pro League (or Roshn Saudi League) – a hat trick in the team’s last SPL Group Match, the time is not far when he will reach the dream milestone.
So, Ronaldo and CR7 fans are advised to focus on counting his goals, rather than spreading fake, fabricated and unverified reports about their hero.
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