{"id":17691,"date":"2026-04-14T11:19:21","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T11:19:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.365scores.com\/news\/?p=17691"},"modified":"2026-04-20T13:09:41","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T13:09:41","slug":"saudi-league-drama-how-cheating-claims-and-a-benzema-miss-impact-ronaldo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.365scores.com\/news\/saudi-league-drama-how-cheating-claims-and-a-benzema-miss-impact-ronaldo","title":{"rendered":"Saudi League Drama: How Cheating Claims and a Benzema Miss Impact Ronaldo"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Saudi Pro League<\/a> is delivering more drama than a Hollywood script right now. Between explosive allegations of match-fixing and a shocking continental exit for one of the league’s heavyweights, the title race has been thrown into absolute chaos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is exactly what is shaking up the top of the table.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Saudi
(Via 365Scores)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Toney’s Explosive Allegations<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The integrity of the Saudi Pro League took a direct hit this week after Al-Ahli<\/a> stumbled to a 1-1 draw<\/a> against Al-Fayha<\/a>\u2014a result that severely dented their title aspirations. But it was the post-match fallout that grabbed global headlines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

England international Ivan Toney<\/a> launched a scathing attack on the officiating, suggesting referees are actively trying to “hand the trophy” to Cristiano Ronaldo<\/a> and Al-Nassr<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"JEDDAH,
(Photo by Yasser Bakhsh\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n
\n

“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. His mind is elsewhere.” \u2014 Ivan Toney<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Toney, who felt his side was denied blatant penalties, added that when asked who the referees were favoring, he laughed and said, “We know who, who are we chasing?” Al-Ahli has formally backed their striker, demanding the league release VAR audio recordings.<\/sup> With Al-Nassr currently leading the pack, the accusations have cast a heavy, controversial shadow over their campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Benzema\u2019s Penalty Nightmare<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While Al-Nassr deals with a PR firestorm, their closest rivals, Al-Hila<\/a>l<\/a>, are dealing with absolute heartbreak on the pitch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a breathtaking AFC Champions League Elite<\/a> Round of 16 clash against Qatari side Al-Sadd<\/a>, Al-Hilal crashed out in agonizing fashion. After a pulsating 3-3 draw<\/a> in regular and extra time\u2014featuring an opening goal from Sergej Milinkovi\u0107-Savi\u0107<\/a>\u2014the tie went to penalties under the AFC’s compressed single-leg knockout rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With Roberto Firmino<\/a> missing Al-Sadd’s opening kick, the door was wide open for Al-Hilal to take control. Instead, Karim Benzema<\/a> stepped up and stunningly skied his decisive penalty over the crossbar. Al-Sadd converted the rest of their attempts, sealing a 4-2 shootout victory and dumping the Saudi giants out of continental competition.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"JEDDAH,
. (Photo by Abdullah Ahmed\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

The Ripple Effect: A May 7 Showdown<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Benzema\u2019s continental tragedy might actually be Ronaldo\u2019s worst nightmare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By crashing out of the AFC Champions League, Al-Hilal’s schedule just completely cleared up. They now have zero international distractions and can funnel 100% of their energy into hunting down Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Nassr's
(Photo by Fayez NURELDINE \/ AFP via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

The Title Race at a Glance<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Team<\/strong><\/td>Status & Key Factors<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/thead>
Al-Nassr<\/strong><\/td>Leading the pack, but dealing with mounting pressure from public “cheating” accusations and fixture congestion.<\/td><\/tr>
Al-Hilal<\/strong><\/td>Eliminated from Asia; fully rested with a two-week break before their next match, focused entirely on snatching the SPL title.<\/td><\/tr>
Al-Ahli<\/strong><\/td>Furious over refereeing decisions and demanding transparency, desperate to keep their fading title hopes alive.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Everything now points to May 7<\/strong>, when Al-Nassr and Al-Hilal go head-to-head in a championship-defining clash.<\/sup> Al-Nassr will likely arrive with heavy legs, while Al-Hilal will be rested, angry, and singularly focused.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Will the pressure crack Al-Nassr, or can Ronaldo hold off a revitalized Benzema for the crowning accusations\u2014crack Al-Nassr, or can Ronaldo hold off a revitalized Benzema for the crown?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Saudi Pro League is delivering more drama than a Hollywood script right now. Between explosive allegations of match-fixing and a shocking continental exit for one of the league’s heavyweights, the title race has been thrown into absolute chaos. Here is exactly what is shaking up the top of the table. (Via 365Scores) Toney’s Explosive …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":17696,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,5006],"tags":[1030,1766,1450,26,2299,185,5007,108],"class_list":["post-17691","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-soccer","category-saudi-league","tag-al-hilal-riyadh","tag-al-nassr-2","tag-al-hilal","tag-cristiano-ronaldo","tag-ivan-toney","tag-karim-benzema","tag-saudi-league","tag-soccer","article_type-discover","article_type-news","entity_type-athlete","entity_type-competition","inspiration-365s-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.365scores.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17691","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.365scores.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.365scores.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.365scores.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.365scores.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17691"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.365scores.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17691\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17698,"href":"https:\/\/www.365scores.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17691\/revisions\/17698"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.365scores.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17696"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.365scores.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17691"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.365scores.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17691"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.365scores.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17691"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}