Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has reportedly said that Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo was not part of the team's starting 11 in the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar due to a political ban. The Turkish politician had also mentioned that the star forward was "wasted" at the quadrennial event, which was hosted by a middle Eastern nation for the first time.
Notably, Portugal lost to Morocco in the FIFA World Cup quarterfinals 0-1. Even though Ronaldo was the big name in the Portugal squad, their manager Fernando Santos decided to leave him out of the starting 11 and he came in only as a substitute. The former Manchester United star had also not started for Portugal in their Round of 16 clash against Switzerland.
Moments after Portugal lost the quarterfinal, Ronaldo was caught in tears as he walked through the tunnel as it meant that his last opportunity of trying to win a FIFA World Cup for his country was lost.
Ronaldo is someone who stands for the Palestinian cause: Recep Tayyip Erdogan
"They have wasted Ronaldo. Unfortunately, they have imposed a political ban on him," Erdogan was quoted as saying in an Al Jazeera report on December 26 (Monday).
He was reportedly speaking at a youth event in the Erzurum province of Turkey.
"Sending a footballer like Ronaldo to the pitch with just 30 minutes remaining to the match ruined his psychology and took away his energy," Erdogan added.
"Ronaldo is someone who stands for the Palestinian cause," he stated.
Even though the Turkey President has said that Ronaldo being an advocate for the Palestinian cause could be one of the reasons he was not allowed to spend enough minutes on the pitch, the same Al Jazeera report has claimed that the 37-year-old has never issued any public statement on the Israel-Palestine conflict.