Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr side could be kicked out of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League after being accused of breaching the competition’s ownership rules.
The Saudi side, who have arrested their poor start to the season and are now flying in the Pro League, could well face legal trouble but they may not be the only side.
Three Saudi Pro League clubs; Al-Nassr, Al-Hilal and Al-Ittihad, all of whom are owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), have qualified and as such are set to face legal challenges for seemingly ignoring the multi-club ownership laws.
The AFC have adopted similar rules to UEFA and will not allow clubs with the same ownership to enter the competition and Saudi Arabia’s big three sides in the Pro League are currently in breach of this rule.
The three teams have all had superb starts to the season with Al-Hilal four points clear at the top of the Saudi Pro League as Aleksandar Mitrovic and Neymar lead the line for the Saudi giants.
Ronaldo to be out of AFC Champions League
As a result of this, Cristiano Ronaldo’s side could well be kicked out of the competition.
After his fantastic relationship with the UEFA Champions League where he lifted multiple European crowns, the 37-year-old was hoping to dominate the Asian Champions League too but it seems that won’t be the case.
However, there is a way that the club may well not be kicked out of the competition.
According to the Daily Star, multi-club ownerships are only prohibited in the AFC Champions League in cases where there is a “material risk” that it could potentially “jeopardise the integrity of an AFC club competition and/or any match”.
The Champions League are split into two regions so the lawmakers will look at whether the three sides would be likely to meet in the competition.