After announcing his retirement from the Portugal national team on Thursday, Nov. 5, Cristiano Ronaldo won't be returning to the pitch the next day.
Ronaldo's Al-Nassr was originally scheduled to visit Al-Hazem in a Saudi Pro League match on Friday, Nov. 6.
But the game at Al-Hazem Club Stadium was postponed along with every other Saudi Pro League fixture this week.
Why is Al-Nassr vs. Al-Hazem postponed ?
On Tuesday, Nov. 3, the Saudi Pro League announced that it had postponed its entire round of Matchweek 13 fixtures.
The announcement came on the same day that the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) announced that the 2027 Asian Cup was postponed amid deadly attacks in host country Saudi Arabia.
The Asian Cup was set to be held from Jan. 7 to Feb. 5, 2027, and will now take place from Dec.
23, 2027, to Jan. 21, 2028.
The league will now review how to best distribute matches after the Asian Cup postponement opened up an entire month on the calendar.
"The decision [to postpone the matches] comes as part of a wider review of the 2026-27 [Saudi Pro League] fixture schedule, with the revised Asian Cup dates creating additional flexibility in the domestic football calendar," the league said.
"The review will focus on achieving a more balanced distribution of fixtures across the remainder of the season, while ensuring adequate rest and recovery periods for players.
"As part of the process, the SPL will hold a workshop with RSL clubs to discuss the proposed calendar adjustments and gather feedback before finalizing the revised schedule."
How many goals does Cristiano Ronaldo have?
Cristiano Ronaldo continued to move closer to the 1,000-goal milestone by scoring a hat trick in Al-Nassr's 5-3 win over Al-Kholood on Thursday, Oct. 29.
The treble took Ronaldo to 985 career goals as he moves to just 15 away from the milestone.
The 41-year-old was rested for Al-Nassr's 6-2 win at Uzbek side Pakhtakor in the AFC Champions League on Monday, Nov. 2.
Should Ronaldo reach 1,000 goals, he would be the first player to do so in official senior matches.
When will Cristiano Ronaldo play next?
Al-Nassr won't play again until after the November international window, which will see Ronaldo take a break after his retirement from the Portugal national team.
The next match for Al-Nassr will be a Nov. 20 date with Al-Qadsiah.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Why is Al-Nassr vs. Al-Hazem postponed today? Ronaldo's 1,000-goal chase put on hold
