Over a decade ago, Cristiano Ronaldo found himself unintentionally involved in an unusual espionage plot involving the Russian government. According to revelations from BBC's former security correspondent, Gordon Corera, comments on Cristiano Ronaldo's YouTube videos were used as a secret communication channel between a pair of spies and the Kremlin.

The couple, Andreas and Heidrun Anschlag, were tasked with gathering information about the European Union, NATO, and the UN, and sending the data to Russia. Their method of staying in touch with the Russian government was innovative: they created YouTube accounts and began interacting with videos related to Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the most popular footballers of the time.

A coded system in the comments

The espionage through the player's videos was no trivial matter. Russian intelligence agents used comments on CR7's videos as an encrypted system to send and receive messages. According to Corera's report, they left sequences of punctuation marks in the comments that could be converted into numbers, then decoded to reveal messages previously agreed upon between the spies and the Kremlin.

The account crsitanofootballer, which seemed to be linked to Cristiano Ronaldo, was the one responding to these comments, exchanging phrases like "Run and play like the devil," which apparently served as signals for the agents. This peculiar use of a public platform like YouTube was one of the most unusual forms of espionage during the 2010s.

Sophisticated espionage through digital networks

The Russian government didn’t just rely on comments in Cristiano Ronaldo's videos. Initially, the spies used radios and satellites to communicate with the Kremlin. However, with the rise of the Internet and platforms like YouTube, their method of operation changed, allowing for quicker and less detectable communication. The spy couple employed these new technologies to continue their mission in Germany, always under the radar of authorities.

The use of digital platforms in the age of espionage

This incident highlights how, even in recent times, digital platforms like YouTube became tools not just for public communication, but also for covert operations. In a world where technology is constantly advancing, the use of social media and digital communication channels has turned into a new battleground for intelligence agencies.

Cristiano Ronaldo, unaware of all this, continued his career with Real Madrid, marking a golden era for the club. Meanwhile, Russian espionage in Europe went unnoticed until the case was discovered by the authorities.

Although Cristiano Ronaldo had no direct connection to espionage activities, this episode shows how football and politics can intertwine in unexpected ways. The global fame of a footballer can make him a point of connection, even unintentionally, between events as distant as a football match and high-level espionage operations.