Cristiano Ronaldo was on the brink of reaching the historic milestone of 900 career goals, but a controversial refereeing decision denied him a legitimate goal in Al Nassr’s 1-1 draw with Al Raed during the opening match of the 2024/2025 Saudi Arabian League season. This decision left fans and pundits debating whether Ronaldo’s remarkable achievement was unfairly thwarted.
The Portuguese star opened the scoring in the 34th minute with a header from a cross by Sadio Mane. The fans were treated to a classic Ronaldo celebration, with the famous jump and spin, turning his back to the stands. However, Al Nassr’s lead only lasted until the start of the second half, when Aymeric Laporte committed a foul in the box, resulting in Mohamed Fouzair’s equaliser.
There was widespread outrage on social media when, in the 75th minute, the referee disallowed Ronaldo’s second goal, which could have given Al Nassr the win. Using semi-automatic offside technology, the referee called Ronaldo offside after he received a pass from Marcelo Brozovic and finished successfully. The decision caused outrage, especially because only Ronaldo’s arm was in an offside position, a part of the body that, according to official FIFA rules, should not be considered when determining offside.
In an official statement, a FIFA spokesperson commented on the incident: “The goal was disallowed due to a clear offside position, as determined by semi-automatic offside technology. While we understand the frustration, the decision was made in accordance with the current laws of the game, which do not consider the arm in determining offside.”
The controversy didn’t stop there. In second-half stoppage time, Al Nassr had a penalty appeal denied following a VAR review when the referee ruled that the Al Raed defender’s arm was not in an unnatural position when blocking a Mane cross. This left Ronaldo and his teammates even more frustrated.
With this decision, Ronaldo remains on 898 goals in his career, postponing the long-awaited 900-goal milestone. Al Nassr, in turn, will look for their first win of the season in their next match against Al-Feiha, where Ronaldo will once again attempt to get closer to the all-time record.
