Ronaldo is not the first: the story of a Al-Hilal star being denied his goal 16 days after scoring it

Will the crisis happen again?

Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal's talisman and Al-Nassr captain, isn't the first player to spark a row over whether one of his goals should rightfully count in the Saudi Roshn League. One of the stars of their great rivals Al-Hilal got there before him.

Al-Nassr saw off Al-Fayha 3-1 yesterday, Friday, at the Al-Majmaah Sports City Stadium in the eleventh round of the Roshn League.

Ronaldo lit up the contest. He scored Al-Nassr's second goal in the 49th minute, heading home a free-kick delivery from his compatriot Joao Felix.

Not everyone agreed. Some social media users reckoned the goal should go down as an own goal from Al-Fayha defender Andre Geraldes rather than to the Portuguese star.

Saudi newspaper "Al-Yaum" dug up a near-identical case from two seasons ago, in 2024-2025, and its victim was Serbia's Aleksandar Mitrovic, then Al-Hilal's striker.

On 14 September 2024, Al-Hilal beat Al-Riyadh 3-0 at the Prince Turki bin Abdulaziz Stadium in the Saudi capital, in the third round of the Roshn League, with a Mitrovic brace and a goal from Salem Al-Dawsari.

Sixteen days later, on 30 September 2024, the Saudi League Association announced that Al-Hilal's second goal would be credited to Al-Riyadh defender Yoann Barbet instead of Mitrovic.

The technical reports and television replay, the association said, showed the ball had struck the Al-Riyadh defender's body before crossing the line. They duly took the goal off the Serbian striker.

Al-Hilal's fans were furious, all the more so because Mitrovic was battling Ronaldo for the Roshn League top scorer title, the one the Portuguese star had claimed the previous season.

Ronaldo landed the top scorer crown again this season, finishing on 25 goals, two clear of England's Ivan Toney, the Al-Ahli striker in second. Mitrovic, meanwhile, fell out of the race through injury.