Cristiano Ronaldo Hailed For Penalty “Honesty” But Many Fans Unimpressed By His “Dive”
Cristiano Ronaldo asked a referee NOT to award him a penalty kick during Monday’s AFC Champions League game between Al Nassr and Persepolis.
The Al Nassr captain went down in the 18-yard box inside the opening two minutes in Riyadh, sparking China’s Ma Ning to point to the spot.
Multiple Persepolis players were very unhappy with the referee’s decision and began frantically waving their fingers at him.
Remarkably, Ronaldo then joined in with the protests before a VAR review saw the referee cancel the award of the penalty.
Ronaldo swiftly went viral on social media, where he was widely hailed for his “honesty” and “sportsmanship”.
However, not everyone was impressed.
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Many fans seemed to believe that Ronaldo had been guilty of a “dive” and that his gesture to the referee was a “PR” move because he knew that the VAR check would result in the penalty being canceled anyway.
Ronaldo threw himself to the ground after Persepolis midfielder Soroush Rafiei had slid towards him with an outstretched boot.
But Rafiei pulled out of the challenge. Ronaldo went down anyway, having anticipated contact.
Monday’s game finished 0-0, despite Al Nassr playing with just 10 men from the 17th minute when Ali Lajami was sent off.
That result saw Ronaldo and Co qualify for the AFC Champions League’s knockout phase.
Source: Fannations
