2 days Ago By Lee Davey
Cristiano Ronaldo’s club Al-Nassr has condemned the ‘unacceptable’ actions of a Saudi Youtuber and apparent Lionel Messi fan. The Saudi Pro League club were reacting to the behaviour from members of Team Falcon, a Saudi Arabian eSports team, who visited the club’s dressing room at Al-Awal Stadium. YouTuber Abu Omar caused outrage at the club by taking a photo of himself in front of Ronaldo’s locker whilst mimicking Messi’s World Cup celebration.
A statement from the Saudi Pro League club read: "Al Nassr has always been welcoming to its visitors, including fans and amateurs. But what happened in the team's changing room yesterday is unacceptable to some people. “We explain that as a club, we have instructed the relevant internal departments to deal with this matter immediately in order to preserve the moral and material rights of the club.
Every fan who comes to us undertakes to respect and appreciate." Aside from the picture in question, members of Team Falcon recorded videos of them playing with the tactics board in the dressing room. “We want to emphasise that the club’s doors and all its facilities remain open to every fan, provided they uphold the respect and appreciation for the great Al Nassr Club,” the statement continued.
The reaction has since been mixed with some fans siding with the club in their claims of disrespect while others have seen the humour in the stunt. It comes just a week after Ronaldo imitated Messi's famous World Cup rant aimed at Wout Weghorst during a post-match interview. Messi made headlines with the celebration in the ill-tempered World Cup 2022 quarter-final victory over the Netherlands.
The Argentina captain stood in front of the Netherlands bench before cupping his ears in a move that annoyed the Dutch coaching team. It was initially seen as a provocative act from Messi however it was later revealed that the gesture was aimed at boss Louis van Gaal for ‘nearly destroying the career of Messi’s idol Juan Roman Riquelme during his time at Barcelona under the Dutch coach. Van Gaal rarely selected Riquelme but on the occasions the playmaker did get on the pitch, and scored, he would do the trademark celebration towards Van Gaal.
Messi revealed that he communicated with his idol during the tournament in Qatar. He told Netflix’s Captain’s of the World: “For many years, I’ve been talking to Roman. And during the World Cup, we spoke after the matches”.
.
