The Saudi Pro League is in its final stages, currently in matchday 28 out of 34, and Cristiano Ronaldo is getting close of winning his first league title since he joined the Saudi football league in 2023. A 1-1 draw between Al-Ahli and Al-Fayha on Wednesday meant that Al-Ahli lost the second place of the league, with 66 points after 28 matches.
Al-Hilal is second in the Saudi Pro League with 68 points and 28 matches, and Al-Nassr leads with 70 points after 27 matches, which means that their lead could still increase to five points.
However, the match between Al-Ahli and Al-Fayha was controversial, because of a handball that was not called by the referee, one that could have given them a penalty, and now the club and players are complaining that they are being harmed by the referees to facilitate the league title to Ronaldo.
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"Hand over the trophy, that's what they want, they want to knock us out of the championship by any means necessary, they want to hand the trophy to one person, a total lack of respect for our club", said Wenderson Galeno, Brazilian player formerly at Porto.
Another Al-Ahli player, former Brentford and Newcastle player Ivan Toney, posted a Instagram story implying that the referee decisions are all made to help Ronaldo win the league. "Who are we trying to take first place from? Who does it benefit? It's crystal clear. I don't know what else we can do. If you catch the ball with both hands, is it going to be a penalty?". He later deleted the story.
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Al-Ahli even posted a statement after the match, expressing their "deep dissatisfaction with the refereeing errors", which raise "legitimate concerns regarding the referee selection process and the criteria applied".