LETTER FROM RIYADH
The Saudis follow with passion the debut of Cristiano Ronaldo in the kingdom. At 38, the Portuguese striker has worn the blue and yellow colors of Al-Nassr FC, the Riyadh club, which is at the top of the Saudi championship since January 2023. With each match, the stands fill up. The Saudis also follow him, many, on their small screen, at home or in the cafe. “My children are extremely proud that Ronaldo is playing here. Now the whole world is watching the Saudi championship! »exclaims Machaal, a 35-year-old mother who teaches information technology in Riyadh.
Saudi Arabia could not dream of a better showcase to serve its ambitions of opening up to the world. The sum disbursed is up to these ambitions: no less than 400 million euros have been put on the table to welcome the sixfold Golden Ball for two and a half years and make him wear the costume of ambassador of the candidacy. Saudi Arabia to the organization of the 2030 World Cup. Thanks to his fame and his 500 million followers on Instagram, the international star is a formidable tool of soft power. What Amnesty International did not fail to point out, which urged him to use this voice to “to speak out on the myriad human rights problems in the country”.
The Portuguese star is also talked about a lot within the kingdom, and not only among football enthusiasts. Cristiano Ronaldo’s settling in with his family – Argentine model and influencer Georgina Rodriguez and her four children – is sparking heated debates in the land of the two holy mosques, Mecca and Medina. The couple’s way of life, and especially the selfies posted by Georgina on social networks, put back to back supporters and detractors of the modernization policy initiated by the Crown Prince, Mohammed Ben Salman, with the Vision 2030 plan. Pumped up in 2016, this vast reform plan aims to break the kingdom’s dependence on black gold and loosen the grip of the Wahhabi clergy – the ultra-rigorous doctrine which has the rank of state religion – on society.
Tense
New rights granted to women, promotion of the tourism and leisure industry: this forced modernization has been embraced by a majority of the 35 million Saudis, 70% of whom are under 30 years old. However, it did not overcome all the resistance within the still conservative society, despite the repression of the most critical voices. Although tidy, the couple’s lifestyle has heightened some tensions. Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodriguez live in concubinage, a practice prohibited in Saudi Arabia, where two people of different sex cannot live under the same roof if they are not married or from the same family.
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