Madeira to rename airport after Cristiano Ronaldo

Welcome to Madeira Cristiano Ronaldo Airport.

This will be the message awaiting passengers in the Madeira Islands when the local airport is renamed after the local football hero.

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Cristiano Ronaldo is expected to attend a ceremony at the airport outside his hometown of Funchal today (Wednesday), a day after his Portugal side plays Sweden in the city in a friendly.

This will be the first time Ronaldo plays with the national team in the city where he grew up.

Funchal also features a Ronaldo statue, a museum about him, and a hotel complex named after him.

"This game is a great tribute to the people of Madeira, they deserve it," Ronaldo says on the Portuguese Football Federation website.

A sign with the player's image was already being added to the facade of the airport.

According to sports.abs.cbn.com, some politicians are opposing the renaming of the airport, saying that the footballer's name should be added to a stadium or another sporting venue instead. The question of whether or not the Madeira regional government has the legal right to make the name change without consulting the main government has also been raised.

Portugal's squad landed on Monday at the airport, displaying the trophy it won at the 2016 European Championship in France.