Cristiano Ronaldo, Sadio Mane and the rest of Al Nassr’s big-money stars had to get ready in a changing room akin to something out of ‘Sunday League’ in their latest fixture.
The Saudi Pro League continue to splash out huge wages and fees on a series of high-profile players, with the top four sides seemingly having an unlimited budget given they are primarily controlled by the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund.
But some of the lesser sides in the Saudi top division do not quite have the same level of finances and facilities.
Al Nassr played away against Al Fateh on Friday night and put five past them with Ronaldo scoring a hat-trick and Mane bagging a brace as Luis Castro’s side.
The gulf in class wasn’t only displayed on the pitch as images of the away dressing room at Prince Abdullah Bin Jalawi Stadium went viral.
The room was anything but state-of-the-art and the shirts were laid out on chairs which looked like they were from a conference room of some sorts.
And fans were in disbelief over the less than impressive conditions Ronaldo and company had to contend with.
One said: “I thought the Saudi league was rich.”
A second commented: “Spent billions on washed up players but zero infrastructure.
A third had the same view, writing: “Spend millions on players and salaries but can’t do the same for something as simple as a dressing room.”
A fourth user added: “All that money on wages and their dressing room doesn’t even come close to a Sunday league dressing room.”
Another joked: “Ronaldo getting changed in a conference room there.”
A final person wrote: “All that money and this is your away dressing room.”
The dressing room of Al Nassr opponents tonight 😭😭😭😭😭
It’s worth noting that Al Nassr’s dressing room is incredibly spacious, with comfortable seats and a stylish design but clearly not all clubs are on the same playing field.
After their first win of the new season, Al Nassr host Al Shabab in their next outing on Tuesday.
