Man United hero Cristiano Ronaldo warned by Newcastle official in heated Saudi Arabia battle

Cristiano Ronaldo was shown a yellow card by this Newcastle official during Al-Nassr’s defeat to city rivals Al-Hilal.
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One of the Premier League’s top match officials was cherry-picked by the Saudi Arabian Football Federation this week.

Michael Oliver, who was born in Ashington and is a boyhood Newcastle United fan, was drafted in to officiate arguably the biggest game in the Saudi football calendar.

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After overseeing Crystal Palace’s win at Southampton on Saturday, Oliver flew to the Middle East to officiate the Riyadh derby between Al-Hilal and Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr on Tuesday.

Al-Hilal, who were defeated 5-0 by Newcastle United during their trip to Saudi Arabia in December, won 2-0 following a brace by former Manchester United striker Odion Igalho.

The match hit the international headlines after Oliver yellow-carded Ronaldo - who had a goal ruled out by VAR for offside - for pulling down opponent Gustavo Cuellar to ground by his neck.

Oliver is understood to have been given permission to travel to Saudi Arabia after the request was approved by the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL).

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PGMOL chief Howard Webb had previously worked in Gulf Kingdom, serving as the country’s director of referees from 2015 until 2017.

Indeed, it is not the first time that the Saudi Pro League has appointed a high-profile European official. In March, Al-Nassr’s match against Al Ittihad was refereed by Spanish referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz.

Oliver has returned to England to referee Liverpool v Nottingham Forest this weekend before overseeing a potential Premier League title decider between Manchester City and Arsenal.

Cristiano Ronaldo (L) listens to the English referee Michael Oliver (R) during the Saudi Pro League football match between Al-Hilal and Al-Nassr at the Prince Faisal Bin Fahd stadium in the capital Riyadh on April 18, 2023. (Photo by Fayez Nureldine / AFP)Cristiano Ronaldo (L) listens to the English referee Michael Oliver (R) during the Saudi Pro League football match between Al-Hilal and Al-Nassr at the Prince Faisal Bin Fahd stadium in the capital Riyadh on April 18, 2023. (Photo by Fayez Nureldine / AFP)
Cristiano Ronaldo (L) listens to the English referee Michael Oliver (R) during the Saudi Pro League football match between Al-Hilal and Al-Nassr at the Prince Faisal Bin Fahd stadium in the capital Riyadh on April 18, 2023. (Photo by Fayez Nureldine / AFP)

The 38-year-old is unable to referee games involving Newcastle after revealing to the PGMOL he is a Magpies supporter.

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“I never referee Newcastle games,” Oliver said previously. “We have to declare if we have an allegiance to any club – or if a family member works at a club. You can’t do any match involving that team, and I can’t do Sunderland, either, for obvious reasons.

“Because Newcastle are invariably involved in a relegation battle, when you get to March or April, it means I can’t referee anyone around them towards the bottom three.

“If Newcastle needed a point to survive, and the team they were fighting to get above was, say, Villa, I couldn’t referee Villa’s game either.”

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