Hundreds of football fans welcomed Cristiano Ronaldo in Tehran as the Portugal football player arrived in the Iranian capital with the Al Nassr squad ahead of the AFC Champions League match against Persepolis FC.
Fans tracked the aircraft carrying the player ahead of its landing at the Imam Khomeini International Airport on Monday. Hundreds of fans, many in Al Nassr jerseys, then gathered to shout his name and cheer him on the moment the team bus left the airport in the capital.
The Tehran municipality adorned the city with banners welcoming Ronaldo and his teammates, displaying the messages in Farsi, English and Arabic.
However, the fans who went to great lengths to catch a glimpse of the superstar will not be able to see him in action.
Persepolis will play the match on Wednesday behind closed doors as punishment by the AFC for a social media post the team made in 2020 deemed to be offensive to an Indian club.
The crowd ban is being implemented now since this is the club’s first home Asian Champions League match after COVID-19 restrictions were lifted. The AFC rejected a request by the club to defer the punishment to another match.
Source: Aljazeera