Cristiano Ronaldo (39) of Alnasr, a professional football team in Saudi Arabia, has been at the center of controversy for saying, "The Saudi league is better than the French League 1."

Ronaldo received the Middle East's Most Valuable Player Award and the Most Scoring Award at the 2024 Globe Soccer Awards (GSA) held in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on the 28th (Korea time). 안전놀이터

In his acceptance speech, Ronaldo expressed the view that Saudi professional football is a competitive enough stage, which was somewhat controversial in the process of disparaging other leagues.

"The Saudi League is better than the French Ligue 1. If you are curious, come to Saudi Arabia yourself," he said. "All the money in the Ligue 1 league is focused on Paris Saint-Germain, and all other clubs are ruined."

Ronaldo is like an 'icon' who led the influx of stars into Saudi professional football by surprisingly transferring to Alnasr in January last year.

During the 2024-25 season, he garnered 16 goals and three assists in 19 matches, including 10 goals and two assists in 12 Saudi professional football matches, to win the Middle East's Most Valuable Player award. It is the second consecutive year since last year.

Ronaldo also scored a total of 916 goals for the club and the Portuguese national team, receiving the trophy for the most goals scored on the day.

"I am happy to be recognized as the best player in the Middle East and congratulated for the most goals scored in history," Ronaldo said. "The two trophies give me more motivation. I want to continue to experience more goals and wins without stopping."