Ligue 1 Hits Back at Cristiano Ronaldo After Saudi Pro League Comments at Dubai Globe Soccer Awards

The French Ligue 1 has hit back at Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo following his comments about the Saudi Pro League being better and more challenging than the French first division.

The comments did not sit well with the French League who took to Social Media to express their dissatisfaction with the Portuguese star’s opinion.

Ligue 1 shared an image of former PSG player and Ronaldo’s long-term rival Lionel Messi with the branding ‘GOAT’ in the background.

The rivalry between the two players is well documented and this was Ligue 1’s way of taking a dig at the Al Nassr star for his comments at the Middle Eastern football award ceremony.

The French League also shared an image of homegrown star Kylian Mabappe and Ronaldo from a friendly between PSG and Al Nassr last year, a game which ended 5-4 in favour of the Parisians, adding insult to injury.

Ronaldo, who received three awards at the Dubai Globe Scoccer Awards, namely the Best Middle East Player award, the Maradona Award for the best goalscorer in 2023, and the Fans’ Favourite Player of the Year award, stated that the Saudi Pro League was a more challenging league than the French top flight.

“The level right now, to be honest, I think the Saudi League is not worse than the French League, in my opinion,” Ronaldo said.

“In the French league, there are two or three teams at a good level,” he continued.

“In Saudi Arabia, I find it’s more competitive, they can say what they want, it’s my opinion, I’ve played here for a year so I know what I’m saying,” the 38-year-old added.

“But I think right now we are better than the French League,” Ronaldo said at the award function.

Ligue 1 were clearly unimpressed with Ronaldo’s choice of words and let their feelings known with the nature of images they shared on their public portals.