‘How can the referee say this?’ - Al-Ahli stars accuse the SPL of helping Ronaldo win league title

The controversy erupted following Al-Ahli's 1-1 draw with Al-Fayha on Wednesday, a result that left them third in the table, two points adrift of league leaders Al-Nassr, who also have a game in hand.

Al-Ahli has formally requested access to the audio recordings between the on-field officials, the VAR, and the players, demanding "clear explanations for all refereeing incidents where decisions were not correctly made".

With seven matches remaining, Al-Nassr sits two points clear at the top of the table. A championship victory would mark the first league title Ronaldo has won during his four seasons with the club.

Toney, who scored his 27th goal of the season in the match, led a furious response, claiming his side was denied multiple clear penalties. 

The England international made the remarkable claim that when players questioned the referee, they were told to shift their focus to the AFC Champions League instead.

"I think the very big talking point was the two penalties, it is as clear as day," Toney stated in a post-match interview. "I don’t know what more you want him to do. If you pick the ball up with two hands are you going to give a penalty or not?"

He continued: "When we tried to talk to the referee, he told us to 'focus on the AFC [Champions League]'. How can the referee say this? We are talking about now and he is saying to focus on the AFC."

"If you want me to go deeper, I can go deeper, it might get me into trouble but I am a man that says it how it is," he warned. "Throughout the season, it was a clear penalty but now we get to the crunch time and they change it."

When asked who might benefit from these decisions, Toney laughed and replied, "We know who, who are we chasing?"—a clear reference to Ronaldo's title-chasing Al-Nassr.

The striker later amplified his accusations on social media, sharing videos of three penalty appeals and writing, "It's actually crazy how you can miss things like this in crucial moments or chose to turn a blind eye. It's clear what is being influenced here."

Toney's teammate, Galeno, was even more direct in his allegations. "Hand over the trophy, that's what they want," he posted online. 

"They want to knock us out of the championship by any means necessary, they want to hand the trophy to one person, a total lack of respect for our club."