Just over a couple of weeks ago Ibrox icon Fernando Ricksen had a difficult time ahead of a trip to Glasgow. Ricksen was away at his holiday home near Valencia, and looking to fly back to the Netherlands, before travelling on to Glasgow for a fundraising dinner with mainly Rangers fans.
Ricksen has been battling Motor Neurone Disease since 2013, and Rangers fans have always been supportive, so the Glasgow event was natural, but KLM wouldn’t let the former footballer board a plane in Valencia, stating they were concerned he couldn’t fasten his own seatbelt.
A backlash against the company helped lead to a change of heart, and Ricksen flew back to the Netherlands, and on to Glasgow to attend the event and please Rangers fans.
He’s flying again this week, as Spanish newspaper AS report on Tuesday that the former Rangers player will be a guest at Real Madrid tonight. Legia Warsaw are travelling for a Champions league match, and Ricksen has been invited by Cristiano Ronaldo, and will be the guest of super agent Jorge Mendes.
AS point out that Ricksen himself played 15 Champions League games, and represented Rangers at Old Trafford, with Ronaldo playing. The Real Madrid player has also invited the wife of Stefano Borgonovo, an Italian footballer who died in 2013 as a result of the disease. Ronaldo and Mendes have previously helped with campaigns against the neurological condition.
Rangers fans will want to welcome Ricksen back to Glasgow and Ibrox soon, but right now he’s helping to spread the world in the battle against a cruel illness.
