THE FUSE

This is not uncharted territory for Al-Nassr. In July 2023, only months after the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo, the club were hit with a similar registration ban. That earlier punishment stemmed from financial irregularities linked to the signing of Ahmed Musa from Leicester City in 2018. Musa joined Al-Nassr in a £14m ($18.75m) deal and went on to win the league, before departing in 2020. However, FIFA later ruled that Al-Nassr had failed to settle £390,000 in performance-related add-ons owed to Leicester. Despite warnings issued as early as 2021, the payment was not completed on time, triggering a registration ban. On that occasion, the club resolved matters swiftly by paying around €2m, prompting FIFA to lift the sanction before it extended across multiple windows. Whether history will repeat itself remains unclear, but the precedent suggests the issue is likely financial rather than sporting, and potentially solvable once outstanding obligations are met.