A throng of football enthusiasts on Monday surged into a Tehran hotel, eager to catch a glimpse of Cristiano Ronaldo, the star player who had just arrived with his Saudi teammates in anticipation of an upcoming match.
Chanting “Ronaldo, Ronaldo,” the fans pushed past police, filling the corridors and public spaces of the Espians Palace Hotel.
Ronaldo arrived on his first visit to Iran with the Saudi football club Al-Nassr, which is set to play Iran’s Persepolis in Tehran on Sept. 19. The return game will be played in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, on Nov. 27.
Ronaldo was the first of several big-name players to accept lavish contracts to play for Saudi teams. The oil-rich kingdom is spending billions of dollars to try to transform itself into a sports and entertainment powerhouse.
The Asian Champions League games are made possible by restoring diplomatic relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia following an agreement brokered by China earlier this year. The longtime rivals had severed ties in 2016 after an angry crowd stormed Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran to protest Saudi Arabia’s execution of a popular Shiite cleric.
The 2015 Asian Champions League edition was the last time Saudi and Iranian teams faced each other on home turf in the group stage or knockout rounds.
