A second team-mate of Ivan Toney at Al-Ahli has publicly accused referees of favouring Cristiano Ronaldo‘s Al-Nassr as the ‘cheating’ storm in the Saudi Pro League escalated this week.
Al-Nassr beat Al-Ahli 2-0 in a fractious clash on Wednesday to boost their chances of winning the Saudi Pro League.
Toney and fellow Al-Ahli player Galeno effectively accused officials in the league of cheating earlier this month as they suggested they are attempting to ‘hand the trophy’ to Ronaldo, who is chasing his first Saudi Pro League crown.
And Turkish defender Merih Demiral – who was caught by Kingsley Coman, sparking a brawl during the Al-Nassr game – became the latest star from the club to question the integrity of the officials after their defeat by Ronaldo’s side.
He said: ‘The refereeing is crazy, I swear to God… look at my leg! The decisions always go in favour of Al Nassr.
‘Every season they’re pushed towards titles. It’s unbelievable, honestly.’
Another Saudi Pro League star has claimed Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr are being favoured by referees
Ronaldo appeared to taunt Toney during a tempestuous contest in the latest episode of their new rivalry.
The Portuguese opened the scoring in the 76th minute but it wasn’t until the second goal was scored that he and his team-mates let Toney know how they truly feel.
Kingsley Coman sealed the win in the 90th minute and celebrated in Toney’s face before being congratulated by his team-mates.
And while Coman did that, footage shows Ronaldo yelling towards the England striker in a provocative manner.
Tensions then spilled over when multiple players from both teams were involved in confronting each other after Coman clattered into the back of Demiral.
As the melee ensued, objects can be seen being thrown down from the stands while Coman eventually got booked.
The build-up to the match was spiky as Demiral brought his recently won Asian Champions League medal to the stadium before the match, captioning it on social media: ‘For the first time, there’s a Champions League medal in their stadium.’
Al-Ahli fans were teasing Ronaldo about his lack of medals in Saudi Arabia during his post-match interview but he responded: ‘I have five,’ in reference to his UEFA Champions League titles.
Toney had sparked the row with Al-Nassr when he made his remarkable accusations about referees following a 1-1 draw with Al-Fayha earlier this month.
He alleged that when he and his Al-Ahli team-mates attempted to talk to the referee, they were told to instead focus on the AFC Champions League.
‘I think the very big talking point was the two penalties, it is as clear as day,’ Toney said in a post-match interview. ‘I don’t know what more you want him to do, if you pick the ball up with two hands are you going to give a penalty or not?
‘When we tried to talk to the referee, he told us to “focus on the AFC [Champions League]”. How can the referee say this? We are talking about now and he is saying to focus on the AFC.
‘If you want me to go deeper, I can go deeper, it might get me into trouble but I am a man that says it how it is. There are clear talking points with the referee, but his mind is elsewhere.
‘Throughout the season, it was a clear penalty but now we get to the crunch time and they change it.’
Ronaldo (centre right) goaded Ivan Toney during Al-Nassr’s victory over Al-Ahli
Goalscorer Kingsley Coman was the culprit after clattering into the back of Merih Demiral
When asked who would benefit from the decisions, Toney laughed and replied: ‘We know who, who are we chasing?’ in a possible reference to Ronaldo.
Toney later doubled down on social media by sharing videos of three penalty appeals during the match and claimed ‘it is clear what is being influenced here’.
‘It’s actually crazy how you can miss things like this in crucial moments or chose to turn a blind eye. It’s clear what is being influenced here,’ he said.
‘Also with the referee telling us to concentrate on a different competition while VAR is going on is beyond me.
‘Add to that with the referee agreeing that the first one was a penalty in the 90+ minute like that’s going to help.
‘I am probably the bad guy for speaking some truths and pointing out questionable decisions or s*** refereeing.’
Earlier this month, Toney questioned the integrity of officiating in the Saudi Pro League after his Al-Ahli side saw penalty appeals waved away by the referee in a 1-1 draw against Al-Fayha
Toney’s team-mate Galeno added to the controversy, alleging the Saudi Pro League wants to ‘hand the trophy to one person’.
‘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,’ he wrote on social media.
Al-Nassr’s victory over Al-Ahli moved them eight points clear at the top of the Saudi Pro League on 79 points with four games remaining, although second-placed Al-Hilal do have a game in hand.
