The Turkish leader said the Portuguese player is ‘someone who fights for the Palestinian cause’, despite a dearth of public declarations by him on Palestine.
Cristiano Ronaldo\sRonaldo is the first male player to score in five World Cups
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has stated Cristiano Ronaldo was subjected to a “political ban” during the World Cup, as he likened the Portuguese player to Lionel Messi.
“They have squandered Ronaldo. Unfortunately, they have put a political ban on him,” Erdogan stated on Sunday while addressing a youth gathering in the eastern Erzurum region.
“Sending a player like Ronaldo on the field with barely 30 minutes left to the match damaged his mentality and took away his energy,” Erdogan remarked.
“Ronaldo is someone who advocates for the Palestinian cause,” he continued.
The 37-year-old came in as a substitute in the second half of a World Cup quarterfinal game against Morocco in which Portugal lost 1-0.
The former Manchester United and Real Madrid player had also been on the bench when Portugal took on Switzerland in the round of 16, making an appearance as a replacement.
The defeat against Morocco meant that Ronaldo, the first player to score in five straight World Cups, was eliminated from what would most likely be his last World Cup, and was unable to fight back his emotions as he headed towards the changing rooms.
Ronaldo has never released any public views on the Israel-Palestine conflict, despite bogus stories and doctored photographs circulating occasionally online.
A widely-circulated claim that Ronaldo had contributed 1.5m euros ($1.59m) to Palestinians after he auctioned off a golden boot award was disputed in 2019 by a sports management organization representing the star.
A photograph of Ronaldo carrying a banner proclaiming “Together with the Palestinians” in Spanish that was extensively circulated online was likewise doctored and was in reality a show of sympathy for the victims of an earthquake in Spain in 2011.
Ronaldo has been spotted wearing a Palestinian scarf over his shoulders, but it represented the Palestinian Football Group, and the ex-Real Madrid and Manchester United star were standing close to the chairman of that association, Jibril Rajoub.
Ronaldo has also visited various Israeli officials and has been spotted handing one of his football jerseys to ex-Israeli foreign minister Israel Katz.
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