Cristiano Ronaldo’s Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr will have its FIFA ban on registering new players lifted when it settles a debt with Leicester, soccer’s governing body said Thursday.
Al Nassr was ordered to pay English club Leicester 460,000
euros ($513,000) plus annual interest of 5% in an October 2021 ruling by a
FIFA-appointed judge at its players’ status committee.
Leicester filed the complaint in April 2021 because of
unpaid additional clauses due from the 18 million euros ($20 million) sale of
Nigeria forward Ahmed Musa in 2018.
Currently, Al Nassr – which was taken under majority
ownership last month by the $700 billion sovereign wealth Public Investment
Fund – can still buy new players though not register them to play.
“The club Al Nassr is currently prevented from registering
new players due to outstanding debts,” FIFA said Thursday. “The relevant bans
will be lifted immediately upon the settlement of the debts being confirmed by
the creditors concerned.”
Al Nassr’s signing of Ronaldo as a free agent in January
sparked an unprecedented spree of spending by clubs in the Saudi Pro League,
with four now majority-owned by PIF. The fund is chaired by Saudi Crown Prince
Mohammed Bin Salman.
Al Nassr signed Croatia midfielder Marcelo Brozović this
month from Inter Milan in a transfer reportedly valued at 18 million euros ($20
million).
Al Nassr is currently in Portugal on a preseason training
camp and on Aug. 22 has a qualifying playoff in the Asian Champions League. Al
Nassr will host Shabab Al Ahli of United Arab Emirates or Jordan’s Al Wehdat.
Musa left Riyadh-based Al Nassr in 2020 and played last
season with Sivasspor in Turkey. -AP
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