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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Alex Young

Cristiano Ronaldo banned from making Al-Nassr debut due to FIFA rule

Cristiano Ronaldo has been stopped from making his debut for Al-Nassr just 24 hours before his scheduled first game.

The 37-year-old was set to line up against Al Ta’ee, just days after joining Al-Nassr on a £173million-a-year deal, for his first minutes at his new club.

However, Ronaldo was in November found guilty of improper and violent conduct by the English FA, days before his Manchester United contract was terminated, for smashing a phone out of a young Everton fan's hand.

The FA handed Ronaldo a £50,000 fine and a two-match ban, but he was unable to serve the suspension as his United contract was days later torn up.

As such, the Daily Mail report that the ban will now carry over into the Saudi Pro League and Ronaldo will have to sit out the next two games, against Al-Ta'ee and Al-Shabab.

Article 12.1 of FIFA’s Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players says: “Any disciplinary sanction of up to four matches or up to three months that has been imposed on a player by the former association but not yet (entirely) served by the time of the transfer shall be enforced by the new association at which the player has been registered in order for the sanction to be served at domestic level.”

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