Football's Biggest Star Should Stay out of the Middle East

Cristiano Ronaldo vs Israel: Why Football's Biggest Star Should Stay out of the Middle East

       

No-one, bar the man himself, knows for sure whether Cristiano Ronaldo's refusal to swap shirts with Israeli players last Friday was a gesture of support for their Palestinian enemies. In the aftermath of the match, it was widely claimed that Ronaldo  in solidarity with the Palestinians. However it might equally be claimed, given that Portugal had just laboured to a 3-3 draw with a team they were expected to thrash, that Ronaldo was frustrated and simply wanted to get off the field.

What cannot be argued, however, is that Ronaldo is a champion of the Palestine cause. In the past he has been pictured in a Palestinian scarf, and with a banner bearing the Spanish legend "Todos con Palestine" ("Everyone with Palestine"). Last year, he donated proceeds from the auction of the Golden Boot, his award for being Europe's highest goalscorer, to Palestinian children in Gaza. The boot is worth €1.5m. Some claim he even sported a keffiyeh, or Palestinian headgear, during his time at Manchester United.

Ronaldo's dedication to this highly emotive and relevant cause is hugely commendable, and gives the lie to any suggestions that he is nothing more than a pampered, vacuous narcissist. Such suggestions have always been grossly unfair; Ronaldo, after all, dragged himself up from parochial poverty on a Portuguese island to become one of the best footballers of all time. He speaks three languages (English, Spanish and Portuguese). That's two more than most footballers and, in the case of Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez, three more.