Why Cristiano Ronaldo's Al Nassr debut has been delayed

Cristiano Ronaldo will have to wait a while to make his Al Nassr debut as he must serve the two-match ban handed to him over a clash with an Everton fan in 2022.

Ronaldo was caught smashing the phone out of the hand of a young Everton fan in April and, after a police investigation was concluded, he was eventually hit with a two-match suspension by the English FA on 17 November.

By that point, Ronaldo had jetted off to Qatar for the World Cup and he would never play for United again, instead agreeing to the mutual termination of his contract following his bombshell interview with Piers Morgan.

Why can't Cristiano Ronaldo play for Al Nassr today?

Importantly, however, Ronaldo's ban will carry over to Saudi Arabia as FIFA rules state that suspensions handed out by one association must be served in another jurisdiction if not completed in the initial country.

Article 12.1 of FIFA’s Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players states: "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."

The English FA have followed FIFA's rules and informed the Saudi governing body that Ronaldo still has an outstanding ban to serve, which will prevent him from making his debut just yet.

It means Ronaldo will miss Thursday's meeting with Al Tai and Saturday's visit to title rivals Al Shabab, but he will be free to line up for his new side on January 21 against Ettifaq.

In the meantime, Ronaldo could be handed an unofficial debut in a proposed friendlyagainst Lionel Messi's Paris Saint-Germain.