Hasan Al-Mestikawi writes
Describing Ronaldo as the highest-paid player in the world is similar to describing American actor Tom Cruise as the highest-paid fighter pilot in the world, by analogy with his movie TOP GUN.. In the film, the pilot, actor Tom Cruise, engages several times with a group of combat aircraft, and does the impossible, in the imagination of the director and author, and brings them down, violating the rules of engagement that can only be repeated in rare cases in which the wings of combat aircraft cannot touch as in the movie. But Cristiano’s deal with Al-Nasr hit many records, as it is said that the contract is worth 200 million euros annually, or 173 pounds sterling per year, for a period of two and a half years, and it is said that the translation of that is that Ronaldo will receive 16666666 million euros per month, and 3846153 euros per week. , 547,945 euros per day, 22,831 euros per hour, 380 euros per minute, and 634 euros per second. It is said that the followers of Al-Nasr Club accounts on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and other accounts have jumped from hundreds of thousands to hundreds of millions. Which is expected because Ronaldo’s followers are close to 800 million people!
If Ronaldo’s contract with Al-Nasr was unique, then Ronaldo says: “I am also a unique player.” “Once a great and influential player, Ronaldo has now become the embodiment of human greed and a symbol of a disturbing shift in sport,” says British journalist Barney Ronay in The Guardian. Perhaps Ronaldo’s transfer to Al-Nasr club surprised many, especially the international media, as the French newspaper El Equipe considered this transfer as an “economic defect”.
I think that Ronaldo’s deal with Al-Nasr is only part of an integrated project in the Kingdom, which includes sports, art, entertainment, exhibitions, culture, and then tourism, which is one of the most important sources of income for countries. It is enough to describe the Saudi League as the strongest in the Arab world before Ronaldo moved to victory and of course after his transfer, which reflects a real direction and goal. Many famous stars in the world of the game such as Hazard, and perhaps Messi in the future, are on the way. It is a trend that differs from the transfer of stars in the seventies of the last century to America, where Pele played in the New York Cosmos, as well as playing Shingalia, Beckenbauer and others in American clubs in order to spread the game of football. However, the matter here differs at a time when the world has become just one village in which attention turns to where the event takes place. International newspapers and television channels followed Ronaldo’s reception in Marsol Park, and this was not available to the same degree in the media in the seventies of the twentieth century.
Ronaldo is one of the legends of football, and he will remain one of its legends, and he is also an encouraging story. This is a poor kid from a tough background who conquered the world through talent and hard work, who embodies sports as a dream factory. Ronaldo determined his own destiny, repaired his body, repaired his appearance, repaired his skills and repaired his broken beginning in life, and he will remain an inspiring story, whatever the views of the West in his transition process, as this West does not digest the Saudi football project, nor does it digest the idea of relying on oil wealth to create a revolution. Social and additional wealth that is inexhaustible with time, and includes the sports, art, entertainment and tourism industries, even if that is by using famous stars in the world of sports in general, and in various games, and the use of Egyptian and Arab soft powers in art, drama, music, literature and culture.
Ronaldo’s journey from West to East, the West dealt with it as a player’s contract at the end of a way in the stadiums for money, and this may be true for Ronaldo, but it is not like that for victory or for Saudi football, as the journey is part of a clear Saudi project, which will go with him in parallel Organizing the most important and largest international and continental sports tournaments in football, tennis, athletics, boxing, formula racing, and horse races, in addition to artistic and musical concerts and exhibitions. It is the new East’s race towards renaissance, and it is a legitimate race, even if it was paid for with an exaggerated price, and the real return remains to be expected after years.
*** About!
Hassan El-MestekawyHassan El-Mestekawy is a prominent journalist and sports critic. His pen and writings are considered a real sign of sports criticism on the Arab level in general and the Egyptian one in particular. He is famous for his valuable and graceful writings in his daily article in Al-Ahram over many years under the title We Have a Note. He is also a distinguished analyst for sports matches. And prominent events in the world of sports, and he also has other writings outside the framework of sports. He is also the presenter of the El-Mestekawy Salon program on the Modern Sport channel, and he is also the son of the sheikh of sports critics, the late Naguib El-Mestekawy.
