Cristiano Ronaldo was subjected to “political sanctions” during the World Cup.
This is the opinion of Turkey’s leader, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who claims to know the reason.
– Ronaldo defends the Palestinian cause.
There was no World Cup influence on Cristiano Ronaldo in the last World Cup of his career.
Portugal were knocked out by Switzerland in the round of 16, but were eliminated against the struggling Moroccan team after 0-1 in the quarter-finals.
Ronaldo started both matches on the bench and later watched rival Lionel Messi crown his World Cup gold medal career with Argentina.
With the support – from Erdogan
The currently clubless star was criticized during the tournament but is now backed by an unexpected direction.
It’s Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who comes to the 37-year-old defender’s defense – and comes up with his own analysis of why things are this way.
– They lost Ronaldo. Unfortunately, they imposed a political punishment on him. “Sending a player like him to the field 30 minutes before the end of the match destroyed him mentally and drained his energy,” the official Anadolu news agency quoted the player as saying.
It was never expressed
According to the president, he opposed Ronaldo during the tournament because of his commitment to Palestine.
However, the commitment Erdogan is referring to seems a bit fuzzy.
According to Al Jazeera, which DN is referring to, the player has never taken the side of Palestine or Israel in the conflict. On the contrary, he never commented on it.
Ronaldo has been photographed with the president of the Palestinian Football Association, but he has also been photographed with Israeli ministers.