Ronaldo's Saudi project
2023
Ronaldo arrives at Al-Nassr in January 2023 as the face of the new Saudi Pro League, in a move that is openly political and commercial, not merely sporting. From that point on, the refereeing pattern shifts in tone: Al-Nassr begins to live off easy penalties, endless VAR reviews and generous stoppage time, feeding the idea that the league is tilted to protect the "product".
Even so, that half-season ends with zero official trophies: no league, no King's Cup, no Super Cup. The only title he lifts is the Arab Club Champions Cup 2023, a regional competition without the competitive weight of the league or the Asian Champions League.
For a project called "Bought League", it is hard to find a purer example: an ecosystem willing to bend rules on the pitch and criteria off it to protect a product - and that still cannot hide the fact that, in football that really matters, Ronaldo's Al-Nassr has never been the best team in Saudi Arabia or in Asia.