When Portuguese soccer superstar C Ronaldo joined Saudi Arabia's Ainas in a high-profile £173 million-a-year deal, fans' eyes were instantly on him. However, the timing of the top player's debut was a mystery. After completing a two-match inter-league ban, a new challenge ensued - Ainas had no spare foreigner slots and C-Ro could not be registered unless the team made a difficult choice: sell or fire the current foreigners to make room for C-Ro.
Last year, C-Ro was handed a two-match suspension by the FA for harassing young Ewarton fans over the phone. In Saudi Arabia, Ainas will not have to schedule league matches for him.
C-Ro, who was scheduled to make his debut in the early hours of Hong Kong time on January 23, is now facing new variables. According to Ainas insiders, the team's foreign aid quota is full and C-Ro must wait for at least one foreign aid to leave the team before he can register. Currently, eight foreigners including Cameroonian striker Abubakar and Brazilian striker Talisca have been registered in the Ainas team.
Of those foreigners, Uzbekistan midfielder Masharapov may be the one to be sacrificed, having made just one appearance this season. Notably, it was previously rumored that Masharapov had refused to give up the No. 7 jersey to C-Lo and was at risk of being fired as a result. Despite the club's clarification that Masharapov has agreed to change his number, the status quo seems to suggest that Masharapov may not be able to escape being replaced by C-Ro.
On January 19th, Ainas will play an exhibition match against Paris Saint-Germain, without any restriction on the number of foreign players. This will probably be C-Ro's debut with his new team, and will also be a reunion with old foe Messe, which has special significance.
