Cristiano Ronaldo’s future throws up more questions than answers
Cristiano Ronaldo is the biggest name in the Confederations Cup but, off the ball, he’s proving elusive over his Real Madrid future.
Will he definitely leave the Bernabeu this summer? Could he return to Manchester United or force through a move to Paris Saint-Germain? Has he ever fancied playing in China?
We’re still none the wiser.
From Ronaldo’s perspective, one of the biggest advantages of competing in a FIFA tournament is that it’s extremely difficult for reporters to physically get close to him to ask.
Armed police guard on every door, accreditation only grants access to certain parts of the stadiums and training pitches, there’s a ring of steel around hotels and it’s a waste of time going anywhere near some airports for security reasons.
Russian officials are friendlier than their international image, but they remain fiercely loyal to a system bubble-wrapped in bureaucracy.
Unless you’re Portugal’s physio you won’t get within touching distance and, besides, there’s a good chance the camera equipment is still being x-ray scanned for the umpteenth time.
The Portuguese Football Federation’s senior press liaison officer Onofre Costa has been at the heart of the Ronaldo media circus for over a decade and remains a model of professionalism, calmness and discretion in the midst of chaos.
Costa sits at the top table of every news conference, next to the players and coach Fernando Santos, but never dictates any line of questioning and respects the fundamental rights of reporters to seek answers.
The trouble is, Ronaldo isn’t playing ball.
He has cheerfully dodged all questions about his club future, with the support of his international coach, even after collecting another man-of-the-match trophy on Wednesday night against Russia.
He smiled as stood up after making a short speech about his performance, and strolled through the stadium’s ‘Mixed Zone’, an area reserved by FIFA for accredited journalists, ignoring a barrage of questions.
It would be misleading to say the Confederations Cup has been dominated by talk of Ronaldo’s club future; Santos and team-mate Pepe were only asked two questions about the nation’s captain out of seventeen from the international media before their second group game. But it’s definitely the competition’s hottest topic off the pitch.
Every camera lens is trained on him, at the hotel, training ground and stadium, and reporters constantly refresh his social media accounts for any snippets of breaking news.
Journalists and camera crews with FIFA badges are routinely asked by fans if they can help facilitate selfies and autographs with the tournament’s most high-profile name.
Despite denials over his tax allegations, sources close to Ronaldo say he remains „fully focused“ on Portugal’s cup run and will only discuss his future with Real Madrid president Florentino Perez after the competition.
His next game is in St Petersburg against New Zealand, at the stadium where he hopes to compete in the final on 2 July.
Only next month, it seems, can we expect answers to our growing list of questions.
Unless, of course, we stick to asking about another man-of-the-match performance.Soccer Accumulator Bonus
Our fantastic Euro Soccer accumulator offer gives you the chance to earn a bonus of up to 100% on accumulators on the top domestic leagues in Europe along with the group and knockout stages of the Champions League.
This offer applies to returns on pre-match accumulators of 3 or more selections on Full Time Result or Result/Both Teams To Score markets for the English Premier League, Italian Serie A, Spanish Primera Liga, German Bundesliga 1 or UEFA Champions League.
The maximum bonus that you can receive is €100,000 or currency equivalent. The bonus will not apply where a stake has been fully Cashed Out. Where a stake has been partially Cashed Out, the bonus will be calculated based .on the remaining active stake. If a qualifying bet is edited .using our Edit Bet feature. The bonus will be calculated based on the new stake. Where a bet has been edited to include or amend a selection for an event that is In-Play, the bonus will no longer apply. Double Chance bets or combination bets with bonuses. Such as Lucky 15’s or Lucky .31’s do not apply for this offer.
If your bet is successful, we will add the following bonuses to your returns:
Bet Type Bonus
14-folds and upwards 100% bonus
Terms and Conditions
Applies to straight pre-match accumulator bets on the Full Time Result or Result/Both Teams To Score markets for UEFA Champions League, English Premier League, Italian Serie A, Spanish Primera Liga, German Bundesliga .1 or Australian A-League matches. Maximum bonus €100,000 or currency equivalent. Soccer Accumulator Bonus does not apply to Double Chance bets or combination. bets with bonuses such as Lucky 15’s, Lucky 31’s etc.
If any selections are postponed/void then the bonus will still apply, but the percentage bonus added will reflect the actual number of winning selections. For example, an 8-fold accumulator with 7. winners and 1 postponed match will receive a 30% .bonus to returns.
The bonus part of your returns will be added to your account within 24 hours of your final selection having played.
This bonus will not apply where a stake has been fully Cashed Out. Where a stake has been partially Cashed Out, the bonus will be calculated based on the remaining active stake.
If a qualifying bet is edited using our Edit Bet feature, the bonus will be calculated based on the new stake. Where a bet has been edited to include or amend a selection for an event that is In-Play, the bonus will no longer apply.
Where any term of the offer or promotion is breached or there is any evidence of a series of bets placed by a customer or group of customers, which due to a deposit bonus, enhanced payments, free bets, risk free bets or any other promotional offer results in guaranteed customer profits irrespective of the outcome, whether individually or as part of a group, bet365 reserves the right to reclaim the bonus element of such offers and in their absolute discretion either settle bets at the correct odds, void the free and risk free. bets or void any bet funded by the deposit bonus.
In addition bet365 .reserve the right to levy an administration charge on the customer up to the value of the deposit bonus, free bet, risk free bet or additional payment to cover administrative costs. We further reserve the right to ask any customer to provide sufficient documentation for us to be satisfied in our absolute discretion as to the customer’s identity prior to us crediting any bonus, free bet, risk free bet or offer to their account.
All bet365 offers are intended for recreational players and bet365 may in its sole discretion limit the eligibility of customers to participate in all or part of any promotion.
.
