Saudi Arabia is attempting what China failed to do in the late 2010s and attract the big soccer names away from Europe to their country’s top league. The list of players going to Saudi Arabia or that have been linked grows by the day.
Cristiano Ronaldo was the first major domino to fall in December when the Portuguese star joined Al Nassr and is expected to make $75 million a year.
Life is cruel, even for the most pampered soccer players in the world. Four years of chasing a ticket to the World Cup and then, all of a sudden, the dream is over. The reasons for players missing World Cup tournaments are countless: because their country didn't manage to qualify, because their coach decided not to put them in the 23-list squad or because of a damn untimely injury.
We see the same pain every World Cup cycle, and Qatar 2022 is no different. So here we have a list of the biggest names missing from the next tournament.
Crystal Palace forward Wilfried Zaha has been subjected to racist abuse online and the 28-year-old shared screenshots of some of the comments after Saturday's 2-0 Premier League win over Manchester City.
Zaha, who scored the opening goal of the game at the Etihad Stadium, was brought down by Aymeric Laporte which resulted in the City defender receiving a straight red card in first-half stoppage time.
El abuso online hacia los futbolistas se salió de control. Por lo mismo, la Premier League y sus clubes, además de otros aliados alrededor del mundo, decidieron iniciar una protesta que busca acciones concretas que ayuden a prevenirlo y desterrarlo. ¿Su método? Un apagón por cuatro días a sus redes sociales, una de las principales fuentes de los ataques.
Varios equipos y futbolistas, de hecho, no están actualizando sus perfiles en Twitter, Facebook e Instagram desde el viernes 29 de abril y no volverán hacerlo hasta el lunes 3 de mayo.
Crystal Palace forward Wilfried Zaha became the first Premier League player not to take a knee in protest against racism when he stayed standing with his hands behind his back before kickoff in Saturday's 1-0 win over West Bromwich Albion.
The Ivory Coast international said last month he would stop taking a knee before matches because he believes the meaning of the gesture, which he called "degrading," has been lost.