A rare chance for Chinese football fans to see Cristiano Ronaldo play in their country was scuppered Tuesday, as organisers said the Portuguese star had an unspecified “health” issue that caused two matches to be postponed.

The pair of friendlies featuring his club, Saudi Arabia’s Al-Nassr, were originally scheduled to be held in the southern city of Shenzhen against Shanghai Shenhua and Zhejiang FC on Wednesday and Sunday, respectively.

“For me, today is a sad day,” Ronaldo told a Tuesday evening press conference, during which he apologised to Chinese fans.

“In football, some things you cannot control, and as you know I’ve played 23 years in football,” he said, adding, “unfortunately, I have some problem”.

Read full story on sport.timesofmalta.com

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