• Football
  • Boxing
  • UFC
  • Home
  • Football
    • England
    • Transfer News
    • Premier League
    • Champions League
    • Lionel Messi
    • Cristiano Ronaldo
    • EA FC 25
    • Wrexham
  • Boxing
    • Tyson Fury
    • Anthony Joshua
    • Oleksandr Usyk
    • Mike Tyson
    • Jake Paul
    • Logan Paul
  • UFC
    • Dana White
    • Conor McGregor
    • Khabib Nurmagomedov
    • Jon Jones
    • Paddy Pimblett
    • Joe Rogan
  • Other Sport
    • Athletics
    • Formula 1
    • MMA
    • Motorsport
    • NBA
    • Darts
    • NFL
    • Snooker
    • Wrestling
    • Tennis
    • Cricket
    • Golf
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • UNILAD
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube
Cristiano Ronaldo to be reunited with referee who Lionel Messi helped get booted from World Cup duty

Home> Football

Updated 16:55 8 Mar 2023 GMTPublished 15:22 8 Mar 2023 GMT

Cristiano Ronaldo to be reunited with referee who Lionel Messi helped get booted from World Cup duty

Cristiano Ronaldo has his biggest games for Al Nassr and is set to reunite with a familiar face.

Josh Lawless

Josh Lawless

Cristiano Ronaldo is to be reunited with a familiar face on Thursday for what is his biggest game in an Al Nassr shirt to date.

Nassr play Al Ittihad in a top of the table clash in the Saudi Pro League on Thursday, with Ronaldo's team two points clear after 19 games played.

The 38-year-old will be looking to continue his fine start to life in the Middle East, having netted eight goals in his first six games after joining on a free transfer.

Advert

The massive fixture, dubbed the 'Saudi Superclasico' takes place at the King Abdullah Sports City but interestingly, Spanish referee Mateu Lahoz is set to referee the game.

Local media outlets say the Spaniard will take charge, as do AS. He has officiated two games in the Saudi Pro League in the 2018/19 and 2019/20 seasons, dishing out eight yellow card and three red cards.

But Lahoz is an extremely controversial figure after brandishing 18 yellow cards and a red to Denzel Dumfries in a spicy World Cup quarter-final between Argentina and the Netherlands.

Advert

Image: Alamy
Image: Alamy

That prompted Lionel Messi to call for FIFA to review Lahoz's position and he was then sent home from the World Cup ahead of the four remaining games.

"This match shouldn't have ended as it did. I don't want to talk about the referee because they sanction you, but people watched what happened," Messi said post-match.

"We were afraid before the match because we knew how he was and I think FIFA has to review this, you can't put a referee like him for these matches."

Advert

Image: Alamy
Image: Alamy

Lahoz found himself in a similar situation after handing out 15 yellow cards and two red cards in the Catalan derby between Barcelona and Real Madrid.

He was then removed from the next round of fixtures and there has been some talk he is to retire at the end of the season.

Lahoz has refereed Ronaldo on many an occasion over the years, with the Portuguese superstar once grabbing his private parts and shouting, "Hey, Mateu!, do you like it, huh?, do you like it?"

Advert

Image: Alamy
Image: Alamy

Despite this, there has been a suggestion from some Al Ittihad fans that Lahoz and Ronaldo are friends because of pictures of them embracing - with worries that he might treat him favourably in the upcoming match.

Featured Image Credit: Alamy

Topics: Cristiano Ronaldo, Al Nassr, Lionel Messi, Football World Cup, Saudi Arabia, Saudi Pro League

Josh Lawless
Josh Lawless

Josh is a sports journalist who specialises in football and WWE. He has been published by Curzon Ashton FC, Late Tackle, Manchester City FC, The Mirror, Read Man City and Manchester Evening News. He provides coverage of professional wrestling and has covered two WrestleMania events for SPORTbible.

X

@joshlawless_

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

an hour ago
10 hours ago
13 hours ago
14 hours ago
  • an hour ago

    Evangelos Marinakis' immediate reaction to Morgan Gibbs-White transfer saga emerges as Nottingham Forest consider legal action

    Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis is unhappy with Tottenham's pursuit of Morgan Gibbs-White.

    Football
  • 10 hours ago

    FIFA has banned five football kits for life that you'll never see again

    Club World Cup finalists Chelsea and PSG have been hit by FIFA’s ban on sleeve advertising rule

    Football
  • 13 hours ago

    Xabi Alonso has found the next Florian Wirtz for Real Madrid without spending anything

    The new Real Madrid boss may have uncovered a gem in the squad who could be the next Florian Wirtz.

    Football
  • 14 hours ago

    Chelsea set their asking price for Nicolas Jackson as shock club register interest and it looks like a typo

    Enzo Maresca has named his price to sell Nicolas Jackson this summer, amid links to a European giant.

    Football
  • Mateu Lahoz 'sent home from the World Cup' following Lionel Messi's scathing rant
  • Mateu Lahoz gives out 15 cards during Barcelona vs Espanyol in controversial refereeing performance
  • Fans claim Saudi Pro League is 'scripted' after Cristiano Ronaldo and Martin Campana's 'bizarre' one-on-one encounter