Ivan Toney and Galeno, two of the main figures at Al Ahli, created controversy after the 1-1 draw against Al Fayha, a result that practically takes the club out of the Saudi Pro League title race, considering that Al Nassr have a points advantage and still a game in hand.
After the match, both the players and the club itself fuelled the narrative. Al Ahli published a video with three “unawarded penalties”, Toney said that the fourth official basically told the team to focus on the AFC (the Asian Champions League), and even dropped that indirect comment: “we know who we are chasing”. Galeno went even further on social media, suggesting that they want to hand the title to a certain person, clearly Cristiano Ronaldo, and spoke about a lack of respect.
And this is where the problem comes in. This is not just about one match or one decision. This is about the degradation that players and clubs themselves bring to the leagues they play in.
You see this in the Brasileirão as well: constant lack of fair play, simulation, time-wasting, and then when things do not go their way… these theories appear. As if everything is against you. It is not. You did not win because you were not better. Simple.
Al Ahli had clear chances and did not finish the job, and then you go onto social media implying robbery? That is just weak. I like Galeno, but this is sad to see. What does he expect to gain from this? Because this has consequences. It is not just about throwing words out there. If you think you were robbed, prove it. Show something concrete.
Are we going to ignore everything that happened in the AFC Champions League that Al Ahli themselves won? Were there no questionable decisions there? Or does that no longer matter?
And then you have the club itself publishing that video, and it becomes embarrassing. They are not clear penalties, and even if they were debatable, an institution like this cannot behave that way.
This has already happened with Benfica with a post saying “THERE’S NO SHAME ”, it has happened with Real Madrid with videos about referees before matches, and the question is: what do they expect to gain from that? They only damage their own image.
And let’s be honest: if Al Ahli had won, nobody would be saying anything. Not Toney, not Galeno, not the club. This only appears when they do not win.
Conclusion
This is part of modern football, but it should not be. Today it is Al Ahli, yesterday it was others, tomorrow it will be more. The “robbery” has no proof and, honestly, anyone who watches Al Nassr knows they are not being favoured in the way people are trying to suggest.
This was simply reality hitting hard: Al Ahli did not have the ability to compete for the title until the end. And instead of accepting that, they prefer to devalue everything around them. Sad.