Cristiano Ronaldo has been suspended for one match after appearing to make an obscene gesture following Al Nassr's 3-2 win over Al Shabab, the Disciplinary and Ethics Committee of the Saudi Football Federation (SAFF) said on Wednesday.

The incident was not caught on television cameras, but some Saudi pundits said Ronaldo should be sanctioned.

Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos on Monday doubled down on his criticism of players moving to Saudi Arabia, due to the human rights situation in the country.

Al Nassr crushed Inter Miami 6-0 as injury ruled Cristiano Ronaldo out of a much-hyped showdown with Lionel Messi, who was limited to a late substitute appearance in Thursday's friendly in Riyadh.

The player's contract was set to expire at the end of the campaign.

Cristiano Ronaldo insisted Friday that the often derided Saudi Pro League was "more competitive" than French Ligue 1.

When Karim Benzema joined Saudi Arabia's Al-Ittihad this year on a lucrative deal, a comfortable pre-retirement stint seemed assured for the Ballon d'Or winner.

"Great victory and I'm thrilled to announce my 50th goal in 2023," the 38-year-old Portuguese wrote on Instagram

Karim Benzema was lured by Saudi Arabia's "huge project" and the fact it is a Muslim country when he decided to end a trophy-laden stint with Real Madrid to move to Al-Ittihad, the French striker said on Wednesday.

Cristiano Ronaldo made the most of both awful defending and a plume of smoke to set Al-Nasr on the way to a 4-3 victory against Al-Ahli in the Saudi Pro League.

Saudi Pro League (SPL) clubs have splurged $957 million on players in the close season transfer window, according to analysis from Deloitte published on Friday.

Ronaldo scored his sixth goal in his last three games and claimed two assists as Al Nassr recorded a third straight league victory. Sadio Mane was also on the scoresheet.

Cristiano Ronaldo was named in Portugal's squad on Friday for upcoming Euro 2024 qualifiers against Slovakia and Luxembourg.

The Portuguese superstar got things underway in the 13th minute as he converted from the spot after a handball in the Al Shabab penalty area. He added to his tally five minutes later with a header only for the goal to be disallowed for a push on a defender.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat-trick and also set up one of Sadio Mane’s two goals as Al-Nassr roared to a 5-0 victory over Al Fateh to seal their first win in this season’s Saudi Pro League on Friday.

The Saudi Pro League side came from behind to triumph 4-2 in the play-off at Mrsool Park, with Brazilian Anderson Talisca scoring twice and Croatia international Marcelo Brozovic rounding off the win. Nassr had been two minutes from exiting the tournament

Brazilian winger Neymar might have to wait until September to make his debut for Saudi Arabia's Al-Hilal because of injury, coach Jorge Jesus said.

Aleksandar Mitrovic joined the Premier League exodus to Saudi Arabia by leaving Fulham for a club record fee to join Al Hilal on Saturday.

Brazilian superstar Neymar will be unveiled to fans at Al-Hilal on Saturday as he becomes the latest world-famous footballer snapped up by the big-spending Saudi Pro League.

A rock star welcome will await him at the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh where he will be unveiled before thousands of fans on Saturday.