The five-time Ballon d’Or winner was guilty of putting an opposition player in a chokehold and taking him down to the floor, thus, earning him a booking.
Cristiano Ronaldo is back in the headlines, but this time, it has little to do with his fantastic goal scoring exploits in the Saudi Pro League.
The Portuguese icon made his debut in the heated Riyadh Derby on Tuesday, a fixture contested by continental powerhouses Al Nassr and Al Hilal, two clubs based in the capital city.
Unfortunately, things did not go well for Al Nassr as the visitors suffered a frustrating defeat, with Odion Ighalo scoring twice to seal the three points and bragging rights in this derby for the opposition team.
Cristiano, who completed the 90 minutes, failed to get on the scoresheet and was even involved in two controversial incidents.
The first involved a ridiculous tackle, if you can even call it that, on an Al Hilal player. The five-time Ballon d’Or winner was guilty of bringing down the opponent with a ridiculous chokehold after his failed attempt to challenge for the ball.
Michael Oliver, the well-known Premier League referee who was officiating in Saudi on that day, booked the 38-year-old but many felt the Real Madrid icon should have been sent off for his WWE-like challenge.
In fact, Al Hilal trolled the iconic striker on TikTok the following day by posting a clip of the incident with the iconic entrance theme of John Cena, arguably the greatest wrestler and figure in the WWE. Check out the TikTok below.
@alhilal WWE? ??♂️#الهلال #tiktok #football #trending #wwe ♬ الصوت الأصلي – نادي الهلال السعودي
Unfortunately, the other controversy involving Ronaldo wasn’t as lighthearted. CR7 sparked anger in Saudi Arabia, a notoriously conservative country, after appearing to grab his crotch and aim this obscene gesture at fans chanting Messi’s name.
And given that the people of Saudi Arabia are currently observing the holy month of Ramadan, this intensified the criticism. However, Al Nassr have addressed the issue, claiming that Cristiano wasn’t aiming a gesture at the fans but was instead struggling with a sensitive injury in the groin region.