Ronaldo appeared in a promotional video of Saudi Arabia in a vote to select the venue for the 2030 Expo held at the 173rd General Assembly of the BIE held in Palais de Congregation outside Paris, France on the 28th (local time). Ronaldo said, “My family and I are having a great time in Saudi Arabia,” and introduced Riyadh, the host city of the Expo, “It’s an amazing city and I’m ready to welcome everyone.” Ronaldo appealed with other performers to “vote for Riyadh,” and Riyadh was selected as the venue, sweeping 119 votes out of 165 countries, beating Busan with 29 votes and Rome with 17 votes. 스포츠토토
Saudi Arabia has been pushing for the expo as part of the Vision 2030 project, which was designed to break away from the oil kingdom and reform its economic and social structure. Saudi Arabia, which has pushed for changes in various fields, has recently recruited world-class soccer players including Ronaldo with its huge financial power. Starting with Ronaldo’s transfer last year, it was reported that a number of players moved to the Saudi Professional League (SPL) during the summer transfer market. Last year’s Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema left Spain’s prestigious Real Madrid for Al Itihad, and famous European league players such as N’Golo Kante (Al Itihad), Sadio Mane (Al Nasr), and Jordan Henderson (Al Etipark) joined the team.
Especially in August, Brazil’s soccer star Neymar Junior moved to Al Hilal, which shocked him. Neymar’s two-year contract worth 160 million euros (about 226 billion won) was reported, making him realize the power of oil money. According to Forbes in the U.S., Ronaldo ranks first in annual salary for world soccer players and Neymar is third.
Saudi Arabia, which hosted the 2030 Expo, is also pushing for the 2034 World Cup. With the 2026 World Cup being held in North America and the 2030 World Cup in Africa, Europe and South America, the candidates have narrowed down to Asia and Oceania. Some even analyze the situation and predict the possibility of Saudi Arabia hosting the game alone.