Saudi deal: Will Spain forgive Rafael Nadal for breaking its heart?

Before he was a world champion, Rafael Nadal was known as a “good person”. Accepting the offer to become Saudi Arabia’s tennis ambassador has shattered the ideal many in the country had of the player.

“Is it clear now who Rafa Nadal is?” 

It’s a question that fans of the tennis star have been asking on social media, after the announcement that Spain’s favourite sporting son has inked a deal to become a ‘tennis ambassador’ for Saudi Arabia. 

Nadal signed an agreement with the oil-rich Arab country to “promote the development of the sport”, but more than his actions, it was the statement he made that left Spaniards speechless: “Wherever you look, you can see growth and progress here”.

“Money buys everything?” supporters asked at first, criticising the lack of human rights in the Gulf State. Now the debate has moved on from social networks to office corridors, cafeterias and Whatsapp groups.

“I read the news at night and thought I was so tired I must have misread it, but the next day I saw it was true. The first thing I thought was: why did he sell himself? He’s got a lot of money and he’s won everything, he didn’t need it,” Jaime, from Madrid, whose idol has always been Nadal, told Euronews.

“It was such a hard blow that we could start counting the years from this moment: the first year since Rafa was sold,” he adds.

Newspapers have also been filled with letters lamenting Nadal’s decision. “I don’t understand the need to sell out like this, but I don’t blame him either: when it comes to large sums of money, dignity and honour disappear,” wrote Pablo Erskine from Alcorcón in El País.

“Is it really worth sacrificing principles for a few million more?”

Gonzalo discussed this with his colleagues during a coffee break at the bank he works for in London. “It’s hard to be objective because for me Nadal is God, but it’s clear that this is not the best thing he could have done”.

There are those who wonder why Spain’s most popular sports star has made this decision and there are those who defend their idol even in the biggest controversies.

“I don’t know if the agreement is good for his image, but I think he is doing it for the development of tennis and his academy, not for the money. I still believe in Nadal’s values and principles,” says Jorge, a Spaniard living in Germany who says he has never missed a single Nadal match.

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Rafa Nadal is not the first, nor will he be the last sportsman to work for Saudi Arabia, which is why the Spanish reaction may come as a surprise. All the more so after keeping quiet when other athletes signed contracts with the Arab country.

Another Spaniard, Jon Rham, joined Saudi Arabia’s government-funded golf league with a contract estimated to be worth more than $500 million.

Beyond the country’s borders, Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo is set to pocket €200 million for promoting Saudi Arabia’s bid to host the 2030 World Cup, according to media reports. 

Very little information has emerged about Nadal’s deal with the Saudis, let alone the amount of money involved. All that has be