Al Nassr's captain, Cristiano Ronaldo has reportedly been diagnosed with a viral infection on Sunday, and will miss Al Nassr's Asian Champions League, ACL, opener this week at Iraq's Al Shorta.
The Portuguese veteran had earlier targeted Asia's top club crown to add to his long list of achievements with the competition commencing on Monday.
However, Al Nassr released an official statement on social media, through their official X account on Sunday September 15th, announcing what transpired resulting in the Portugese player's absence.
"Al Nassr captain Cristiano Ronaldo was not feeling well today and was diagnosed with a viral infection."
"The team's doctor confirmed he needs to rest and stay at home. As a result he will not be travelling with the team to Iraq today. We wish our captain a speedy recovery."
The 39-year-old Real Madrid and Manchester United forward saw his first attempt with the Saudi side Al Nassr end in a quarter-final penalty shootout defeat to eventual champions Al Ain earlier this year.
Although it has recently been rebranded as the Asian Champions League Elite, where Al Nassr and the other teams from Saudi Arabia will be a major threat to one another considering the vast sums of money spent in the last two years on the likes of Ronaldo, Neymar and others.
England forward, Ivan Toney was the most recent big name to swap Europe for Saudi when he left Brentford for Al Ahli last month for more than £40 million.
Furthermore, it has been reported that Saudi Arabia which is expected to host the 2034 World Cup, will be staging a mini-knockout tournament from the quarter-finals onward in order to decide the champions, who will take home at least $12 million (£9.1m).
Meanwhile Neymar's Al Hilal, Al Nassr, and Al Ahli will all be involved when the Champions League Elite launching on Monday
According to reports all three teams will be showcasing a new formats splitting 24 teams evenly into two groups of East and West, having each team play eight different opponents in the group stage.
Later on, the top eight teams from each zone will play in the last 16 over two legs in March, before the action moves to the final stages in Saudi Arabia from April 25th to May 4th.
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