The most disappointing thing for fans is not Ronaldo's default
"I want to apologize to the Chinese fans, I love China and I want to play for you......," Ronaldo said.
This week, Portuguese football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo's "trip to Shenzhen" sparked a carnival of Chinese fans, both online and offline.
According to the original plan, Riyadh Victory will play friendly matches with Shanghai Shenhua and Zhejiang teams on January 24 and January 28, but the unexpected happened suddenly - on January 23, Beijing time, the organizer of Riyadh Victory China announced at the press conference that the game will be postponed because Ronaldo is unable to play due to physical reasons, and all channels will be refunded as soon as possible. The entire Riyadh Victory team will continue to train in China and will renegotiate the time of the match with the Chinese organizers. 'I've been playing for 23 years and injuries are inevitable and I'm sad about that. Chinese fans have always been in my heart. Ronaldo said at the press conference.
According to Xinhua News Agency, fans who have already purchased tickets can get a full refund, and the organizers will also compensate for the actual air and hotel expenses incurred.
After the organizers announced the postponement of the event, the news immediately rushed to the hot search, followed by a large number of fans gathered outside the hotel to express their protest against the organizers, and many fans expressed their dissatisfaction with the organizers on social platforms. The emotions of the fans mainly came from the Saudi media breaking the news of Ronaldo's injury on the 19th to the postponement of the game on the evening of the 23rd.
On January 19, Riyadh Victory officially announced the list of the China trip, led by the team's number one star Ronaldo, and the veteran of the Chinese Super League, Talisca. However, at the same time that Riyadh Victory announced the list of China trips, foreign media reported that Ronaldo was injured and may be out for two weeks due to injury. When the news came out, there have been doubts about whether Ronaldo can complete the trip to China as promised. On the evening of January 21, the Riyadh Victory team arrived in China, and thousands of fans went to pick up the plane, in order to witness Ronaldo's style in advance. At the same time, the organizer said in an interview, "Ronaldo does have some injuries in training, but we think this is something that professional players are used to. Riyadh Victory has a very strict physical recovery training system, and as far as we know now, Ronaldo will be involved in all the events of this trip to China. The organizer's statement reassured the fans who were going to watch the game.
On January 22, Riyadh Triumph conducted its first training session after arriving in China, but Ronaldo did not show up during the training. But Ronaldo attended the welcome dinner that night, during which the topic of "Ronaldo toast" once rushed to the hot search.
On the afternoon of January 23, the news that Ronaldo missed the warm-up match in China due to injury and that the game might be postponed or canceled spread in the fan circle. Subsequently, the organizers of the event said that the pre-match press conference of the Shanghai Shenhua team, which was scheduled for the afternoon of the 23rd, was cancelled. On the evening of the 23rd, whether Ronaldo can play and whether the Riyadh Victory Club's China tour can be held smoothly has finally been decided. At half past eight that night, the tournament organizers held a press conference, and Ronaldo himself also came to the scene. The organizer announced that because Ronaldo was unable to play due to physical reasons, the game would be postponed, and omni-channel refunds would be opened as soon as possible.
Ronaldo also sincerely apologized at the press conference, "I want to say sorry to the Chinese fans, especially the fans in Shenzhen. As you know, in the world of football, there are some things that you can't control. ”
"I am very sad that I came to China with the whole team of Riyadh Victory to enjoy this journey. I've been to China for many years and I feel at home here, I feel like it's my second home, not only because of the warm welcome from the Chinese fans, but also because of the culture created in China, which I think is the most special. ”
"So, as you can see, I feel sad and I know you feel sad, especially for those who love Cristiano. But we also have to look in a good direction, and when I say a good direction, I mean we didn't cancel the game, we were going to postpone the game. We want to come back, back to your country, and we will come back. ”
'It's unfortunate that I have some problems with my body, but it's part of football and part of my life...... We will continue to be here, continue to be in Shenzhen, we still love this journey, we can see that there are a lot of people out there, they are with us, with Riyadh Victory. We are sad because we know that this can happen. But I can promise that I and the club will not change, we will come back and play games and make the Chinese people happy, that's my goal. ”
'As I said before, I love this country, I love coming here, being with you guys and I want to play for you. So, don't be sad anymore because I'm sad too, and I hope you can understand that that's what footballers need to deal with. ”
However, no matter how sincere Ronaldo's apology is, it cannot make up for the impact of the organizer's belated decision. As the postponement of the match was announced just one day before the scheduled match time, a large number of fans had already arrived in Shenzhen by this time. There is no doubt that the fans are all coming for Ronaldo.
In this trip to Shenzhen, almost every appearance of Ronaldo was followed and recorded by crazy fans, which not only highlighted his huge influence in China, but also showed the extreme worship of Chinese fans for idols. This star-chasing incident not only sparked heated discussions on social media, but also aroused widespread attention to star-chasing culture and fan behavior. The idol's no-show pushed this kind of fanaticism to the other extreme.
It is reported that the whole Riyadh Victory team will continue to train in China and will renegotiate the game time with the Chinese organizers.