"There was a lot of politics to do with it" - World's richest footballer worth more than Cristiano Ronaldo opens up on his 'regret'

Faiq Bolkiah, a 24-year-old footballer with royal ties and a net worth of over $20 billion, has outranked Cristiano Ronaldo as the world's wealthiest footballer. However, Bolkiah, who is the Sultan of Brunei's nephew, has opened up about his regrets while pursuing a footballing career in Europe.

He began playing the sport while in school in England, and eventually joined a local team. His talent was noticed by scouts, and he was offered a place in Southampton's academy in 2009. He was eventually signed to Chelsea's under-16 team, where he played alongside Tammy Abraham and Fikayo Tomori.

However, the competition for playing time at Chelsea was intense, and Bolkiah struggled to get time on the pitch, eventually joining Leicester City, where he spent three years. Bolkiah faced a tough choice at this point in his career, as his background and wealth had gained attention on social media.

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🇧🇳 Faiq Bolkiah, worth a whopping $20 billion, is the son of Prince of Brunei 😳 https://t.co/3klEEQq7gj

He had to decide whether to pursue his dream of being a professional footballer or to focus on his other interests and responsibilities. He ultimately decided to continue playing and joined Maritimo, a top-flight club in Portugal, and this became Bolkiah's regrettable action.

Speaking to Main Stand (via Daily Star), Bolkiah revealed:

"Maritimo said to me 'you’ll come here, you’ll play’ so I said ‘I just want to be here for a year. The main thing for me is I want to play.’ Obviously, that didn’t happen. I definitely regret moving there. I feel like there was a lot of politics to do with it as well, why Maritimo wanted me. I didn’t feel like they were being fully honest."

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He continued:

"It definitely made me stronger. It definitely made me work harder and keep my head down. That didn’t change for sure. But I definitely made the right decision to leave."

Bolkiah eventually left, opting to move to Thai outfit Chonburi to continue his career:

"I had another two years left on my contract there. They changed presidents at the time, I went in there and they understood my situation. It wouldn’t have done me or the club any good for me to be there longer."

Faiq Bolkiah gained notable recognition after it came to light that he is worth approximately $20 billion, having been born into the Brunei royal family.

Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr presentation racked up more views than the 2022 FIFA World Cup final

Cristiano Ronaldo's move to Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia has caused quite a stir, as evidenced by the impressive reception he received. The signing of the famous player has drawn the attention of thousands of fans to the Arabian team.

This has been seen by the significant increase in followers on Al-Nassr's Instagram account after they announced Cristiano Ronaldo. The striker's official presentation with his new club was highly watched globally, with even more views than the World Cup final between France and Argentina.

Journalist Pedro Sepuleda (via Marca) reported that Cristiano Ronaldo's presentation ceremony at Al-Nassr reached "3 billion views on 40 channels around the world." This is reportedly more than the World Cup final viewership on those same channels.