Cristiano Ronaldo was omitted from the Al Nassr squad for a second successive game amid his ongoing dispute with the Saudi Pro League.
The 41-year-old was left out of the line-up for Friday night’s match against Al Ittihad, having also missed Monday’s victory over Al Riyadh, but fans expressed their solidarity, raising yellow signs featuring Ronaldo’s name and his signature number seven in the seventh minute at Al-Awwal Park.
The Portugal captain, who celebrated his birthday on Thursday, is believed to be upset by his club’s lack of January transfer business.
He is reported to be unhappy with the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) for failing to invest in the team in the winter window while rivals Al Hilal – also 75 per cent majority-owned by the PIF – brought in his former Real Madrid team-mate Karim Benzema from Friday’s opponents.
Ronaldo has already been warned by the Saudi Pro League that “no individual – however significant – determines decisions beyond their own club”.
A league spokesperson said on Thursday: “The Saudi Pro League is structured around a simple principle: every club operates independently under the same rules.
“Clubs have their own boards, their own executives and their own football leadership. Decisions on recruitment, spending and strategy sit with those clubs, within a financial framework designed to ensure sustainability and competitive balance. That framework applies equally across the league.
“Cristiano has been fully engaged with Al Nassr since his arrival and has played an important role in the club’s growth and ambition. Like any elite competitor, he wants to win. But no individual — however significant — determines decisions beyond their own club.
“Recent transfer activity demonstrates that independence clearly. One club strengthened in a particular way. Another chose a different approach. Those were club decisions, taken within approved financial parameters.
“The competitiveness of the league speaks for itself. With only a few points separating the top four, the title race is very much alive. That level of balance reflects a system that is working as intended.
“The focus remains on football — on the pitch, where it belongs — and on maintaining a credible, competitive competition for players and fans.”
Transfer funds are understood not to come not from the PIF, but instead from a player acquisition fund.
The fund is overseen by the Saudi Pro League centrally and provides funding for clubs annually based on their size, with the country’s big four – Al Nassr, Al Hilal, Al Ittihad and Al Ahli – all believed to have received roughly the same amount before the summer transfer window opened last year.
Al Nassr spent big in that window, bringing in Joao Felix and Kingsley Coman as well as re-signing Ronaldo on a new deal to June 2027.
That is understood to have used up much of their player acquisition money until they receive their next tranche of cash before the 2026 summer window opens.
Al Hilal’s signing of Benzema was financed separately by a private investor, something which Al Nassr could also have sought to do but did not.
