Cristiano Ronaldo is banned from making his debut for Saudi side Al-Nassr

A sell-out crowd are going to be left disappointed.

Cristiano Ronaldo is banned from making his debut for Saudi Arabian side Al-Nassr on Thursday night.

Ronaldo’s new club Al Nassr, who are reportedly paying him £175 million a year, have sold all 28,000 seats for the match against Al Ta’ee and excited fans were set to see him make his much-anticipated debut for the club.

But this won’t be happening as Ronaldo is yet to serve a ban for a previous misdemeanour whilst at Manchester United. He has therefore been told he is barred from starring for Al Nassr, a source revealed to the Daily Mail.

Back in November, the Portugal star was hit with a two-match ban and a £50,000 fine for an incident involving a young fan.

Following Manchester United’s defeat to Everton at Goodison Park last season, Ronaldo appeared to slap the hand of Jacob Harding as he stormed down the tunnel, damaging the boy’s phone.

Following an investigation, the FA handed Ronaldo a hefty fine as well as a suspension and he was cautioned by police over the incident.

The FA made clear at the time that the ban would apply to any future clubs Ronaldo might play for if he was unable to serve it whilst at United.

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Because of the winter World Cup, United played Fulham on November 13th and resumed first-team action post-Qatar on 21st December against Burnley in the EFL Cup.

But according to the source, Ronaldo had not been available for the two first-team competitive matches as his contract with United had been torn up.

So, the ban carries onto his next club and effectively bars Al Nassr from parading its new star striker until he has played two competitive matches that he would have been available for.

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.”

This point had been noted by the FA when they imposed the ban and explained their written reasons on the case in November.