CELEBRITY
Saudis flock to buy Ronaldo shirts after Al Nassr deal
Only hours after Cristiano Ronaldo penned a two-year contract with Saudi Arabia’s Al Nassr, crowds flocked to a football kit store in Riyadh to buy the five-time Ballon d’Or winner’s new club jersey.
Abdulmohsen al-Ayyban, 41, and his nine-year old son, Nayef, were among those queueing at Al Nassr club’s official kit store on Saturday where clerks where busy pressing Ronaldo’s name onto t-shirts.
“We are witnessing a historic moment,” al-Ayyban told AFP of the deal which he believes “will elevate the Saudi football league”.
Ronaldo on Friday signed for Al Nassr until June 2025 in a deal believed to be worth more than 200 million euros.
A wide smile stretched across Nayef’s face as he proudly held his new jersey aloft.
For the young Saudi, a dream has come true.
“I have always wanted Al Nassr to acquire the best player in the world,” he said. “I will make sure to watch all his games at the stadium.”
Ronaldo, 37, is expected to appear before fans next Thursday, an official from the Al Nassr club told AFP.
For Saudi Arabia, Ronaldo is the latest high-priced sporting jewel acquired to add lustre to their international image.
At home, the deal further fuelled national fervour that spiked after the kingdom defeated eventual winners Argentina in the early stages of the 2022 World Cup, a victory hailed as one of greatest shocks in the tournament’s history.
An unprecedented rush at the Al Nassr kit store started as soon as reports of the deal were leaked to the local press on Friday night — hours before the official announcement.
Abdulqader, the store manager said queues snaked all the way outside the shop and have only grown since.
T-shirt stocks have nearly emptied, pushing customers to bring in their own to have the player’s name printed on them — a process which will take up to two days.
“I have never seen anything like this in my life,” Abdulqader told AFP.
Social media explosion
Inside the store, a festive mood prevailed, as Lebanese, Egyptian and Chinese nationals bolstered the massive number of Saudis hoping to get their Ronaldo merch.
“I have been a fan of Ronaldo since I was a child and now the Saudi club I support has bought him… my joy is doubled,” said Saudi university student Mohammad al-Johni, decked out in the Al Nassr club’s official shirt.
“I will be the first person attending his welcoming ceremony,” the 23-year-old added.
Rakan Mohammad, a 21-year old university student, echoed the excitement.
“The deal confirms the value of the Al Nassr club,” he said. “Enthusiasm and expectations are high.”
On social media networks, Al Nassr’s channels saw a major boost.
Millions of new users followed the club’s Instagram page, bringing the total tally to nearly 4 million, up from around 800,000 prior to the announcement.
“The impact of the deal has already been felt, even before Ronaldo arrives in Saudi Arabia,” Ahmed Al-Zabani, a 19-year-old Saudi university student told AFP.
“The impact will continue to grow in the days to come”.
Many Saudis took to social media to praise the move.
“The dream has become a reality,” read an Instagram post by a shop printing Ronaldo t-shirts in the colours of the Al Nasser team.
The comments quickly flooded in with customers requesting shirts in their size.
“A picture for the history books,” wrote one Saudi user on Twitter, captioning an image of Ronaldo holding up his Al Nasser jersey.
Ronaldo heads to the Gulf after a year that saw him relegated to the bench for Portugal and cut adrift by Manchester United.
United parted ways with the Portuguese star after the veteran forward gave an explosive TV interview in which he said he felt “betrayed” by the club and had no respect for coach Erik ten Hag.
United terminated his contract while Ronaldo was with Portugal at the World Cup.
-AFP
Former England soccer captain David Beckham and actor Gary Oldman were knighted in King Charles’ annual birthday honours list on Saturday, while sculptor Antony Gormley was made a Companion of Honour.
Beckham, 50, joined Manchester United as a trainee in 1993, going on to make almost 400 appearances for the club where he won a string of titles and cups.
He subsequently played for Real Madrid, LA Galaxy, and Inter Milan, as well as captaining his country 58 times and making 115 appearances.
His marriage to fashion designer and former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham in 1999 cemented a celebrity status which went far beyond his sporting exploits.
Oldman, 67, started his career on the stage, where he was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, before rising to prominence in film. He won the best actor Oscar for playing Winston Churchill in the 2017 drama “Darkest Hour”.
He also had roles in the “Dark Knight Trilogy” and the “Harry Potter” movie series and more recently starred in the TV spy drama “Slow Horses”.
Other famous names receiving honours included damehoods for musical theatre star Elaine Paige, novelist Pat Barker and ceramics maker Emma Bridgewater.
Roger Daltrey, lead singer of rock band the Who and a patron of the Teenage Cancer Trust, received a knighthood for services to charity.
More than 1,200 people received honours for their achievements, with a particular focus on those who had given their time to public service, the government said.
King Charles’ official birthday will be celebrated with the annual “Trooping the Colour” military parade in London on Saturday. His actual birthday is on November 14
-Reuters
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One of three judges in Diego Maradona’s closely scrutinized homicide trial in Argentina resigned on Tuesday amid a scandal triggered by the alleged filming of an unauthorised documentary, bringing uncertainty to the future of legal proceedings.
The high-profile trial over the death of soccer star Maradona began on March 11 in the South American country where the World Cup winner is still revered.
-Reuters
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For the third year in a row, and the fifth time overall, Cristiano Ronaldo is the world’s highest-paid athlete.
But at age 40, the Portuguese soccer superstar is reaching new highs.
Over the past 12 months, counting both his playing salary at Saudi Arabia’s Al-Nassr and his off-field business endeavors, Ronaldo collected an estimated $275 million before taxes and agent fees—the third-best year by an active athlete ever measured by Forbes.
On that all-time list, Ronaldo is surpassed only by boxer Floyd Mayweather, who earned $300 million in 2015 and $285 million in 2018.
And when it comes to the 2025 leaderboard, Ronaldo has a $119 million advantage over No. 2, Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry.
The League of Wealthy Sportsmen
The gap is especially impressive considering that Curry’s $156 million total is also a record for his sport, beating the NBA mark of $128.2 million set last year by LeBron James.
And there are plenty of other eye-popping paydays among this year’s 10 highest-paid athletes, starting with James, who notched a personal-best $133.8 million to land at No. 6. Meanwhile, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (No. 4, $137million) and New York Mets outfielder Juan Soto (No. 7, $114 million) broke records for the NFL and MLB.
Combined, the 10 highest-paid athletes brought in $1.4 billion, up slightly from last year’s $1.38 billion and the largest total since Forbes began ranking athlete earnings in 1990.
This year is also only the second time, after 2024, that every member of the top 10 made at least $100 million.
In fact, heavyweight boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk ($101 million) and golfer Jon Rahm ($100 million) reached the milestone, too, without managing to crack this list.
For the third year in a row, and the fifth time overall, Cristiano Ronaldo is the world’s highest-paid athlete.
But at age 40, the Portuguese soccer superstar is reaching new highs.
Over the past 12 months, counting both his playing salary at Saudi Arabia’s Al-Nassr and his off-field business endeavors, Ronaldo collected an estimated $275 million before taxes and agent fees—the third-best year by an active athlete ever measured by Forbes.
On that all-time list, Ronaldo is surpassed only by boxer Floyd Mayweather, who earned $300 million in 2015 and $285 million in 2018.
And when it comes to the 2025 leaderboard, Ronaldo has a $119 million advantage over No. 2, Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry.
The gap is especially impressive considering that Curry’s $156 million total is also a record for his sport, beating the NBA mark of $128.2 million set last year by LeBron James.
And there are plenty of other eye-popping paydays among this year’s 10 highest-paid athletes, starting with James, who notched a personal-best $133.8 million to land at No. 6. Meanwhile, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (No. 4, $137million) and New York Mets outfielder Juan Soto (No. 7, $114 million) broke records for the NFL and MLB.
Combined, the 10 highest-paid athletes brought in $1.4 billion, up slightly from last year’s $1.38 billion and the largest total since Forbes began ranking athlete earnings in 1990.
This year is also only the second time, after 2024, that every member of the top 10 made at least $100 million.
In fact, heavyweight boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk ($101 million) and golfer Jon Rahm ($100 million) reached the milestone, too, without managing to crack this list.
World’s Highest-Paid Athletes 2025
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