Rumor: Bad Teammate & Coward Cristiano Ronaldo Sat Out Asian Champions League Round Of 16 Game, Allegedly Because He Was Scared if He Entered Iran He Would Be Charged With Adultery And Receive 99 Lashings
X.com - Cristiano Ronaldo will not be able to travel to Iran with Al-Nassr to face Esteghlal due to an incident from two years ago.
In 2023, Ronaldo hugged and kissed a young disabled fan on the cheek to thank her for the paintings she created using her feet.
However, Iran consider such a display of affection towards a woman who is not your wife as adultery, which could result in prison and up to 99 lashes.
Note: Take this story with a full helping of salt. Iran is denying that Ronaldo was at risk for for being charged with adultery and receiving 99 lashings. But could that have something to do with why he didn't travel to Iran? That's the rumor. I don't see Ronaldo, or anyone from Al Nassr denying it, but there could possibly be another reason.
However... as a Messi guy... I'm going to go ahead and chalk this up as another tally mark in the "Messi = GOAT" column. Cristiano Ronaldo, barely 40 years of age, in the midst of a $550,000 per day contact with Saudi Pro league club Al Nassr, couldn't be bothered to travel to Iran today. All because when he kissed an armless painter on the cheek a couple years ago, it technically qualified as adultery, and if he enters Iran he would be subject to 99 lashings. I hate to cast any wild aspersions... but it almost makes you think Ronaldo only joined the Saudi Pro League for the money. Almost like he doesn't even care if Al Nassr advances past Iranian soccer club Esteghlal F.C. in the round of 16 in this year's Asian Champions League playoff.
How bad could not even triple digit lashings really be? What an embarrassing look for one of the most fit soccer players... one of the most fit human beings the world has ever seen... to not take a little corporal punishment for the boys. Does six-hundred millionaire Cristiano Ronaldo suddenly think he's too good to be tied to a tree and repeatedly bludgeoned with a thick rope by some random Iranian dude? Is that really worse than being a bad teammate? Is that really worse that watching your beloved Al Nassr suffer a 0-0 draw in the first leg of an Asian professional soccer tournament?
Considering the result, I bet Ronaldo feels pretty stupid now. Sure, his perfectly chiseled back that he'll probably use to make millions and millions of more dollars with from modeling contracts won't be covered in 99 scars for the rest of his life. But going into the second leg of a crucial playoff series 0-0 on aggregate? Al Nassr's chances of advancing at now at rick. There's now a real chance Ronaldo's season will be cut short, and he'll be forced to go home earlier than scheduled to his $600 million mansion on a remote Portuguese island with his stunningly gorgeous Argentine-Spanish model girlfriend Georgina Rodriguez.
Fabio Ferrari. Shutterstock Images.Hindsight is 20/20, but if Al Nassr doesn't pull out a victory in the second leg of this fixture… will be a tough one to swallow. Because of his own selfish decision, Ronaldo may never get a chance to test his metal against the likes of Gwangju FC, Johor Darul Ta'zim, or Yokohama F. Marinos. Ten years down the road, when Cristiano is relaxing on a private beach with his hot wife, his lovely children, and his completely unscarred back, he's going to look back on his fútbol career and wonder would could have been, had only he been brave enough to take a few lashings for his boys. Or just didn't kiss that armless painter with his mouth. Asian Champions League titles don't grow on trees.
Now again… to be fair to Iran. Because I think we can all agree if there's one country who deserves the benefit of the doubt, it's Iran. Iran claims they were not planning to arrest Ronaldo for kissing and beat him with rope.
AP - “We strongly deny the issuance of any court ruling against any international athlete in Iran,” the post read.
The embassy noted that Ronaldo traveled to Iran on Sept. 18 and 19 to play soccer and was well received. Videos of Ronaldo with Hamami were published on the painter’s Instagram account Sept. 20.
The Associated Press reached out to Iran’s Foreign Ministry for further comment on the claim, but did not receive an immediate response.
So it sounds like he wasn't officially charged with anything. But if that's the case… and Ronaldo still used it as a reason to not travel to Iran… even more shame to Ronaldo. That makes him even worse of a teammate. Too scared to travel to little ol' Iran? Do you not trust their government or something? Tsk tsk tsk. Couldn't be me. For a fraction of the amount of money Penaldo is making, I'd take 1,000 lashings. That part is 100% true.