Al-Hilal defeated Al-Nassr in a crucial top-of-the-table clash in the Saudi Pro League. However, the spotlight of all the post-match reviews was on the match official, Wilmar Roldan, who gave all the crucial calls in the match in favor of Al-Hilal.
Certain penalty claims that weren’t given, as well as a disallowed goal by Cristiano Ronaldo, made Roldan the number one target of the passionate fan base of the Portuguese superstar. Some Eagle Eye fans added fuel to the fury of Al-Nassr fans when one Ronaldo fan revealed that Wilmar Roldan is a Lionel Messi fan.
The fan account of Ronaldo, @NoodleHairCR7, uploaded a screenshot of an Instagram post from an account that looked like the official account of Wilmar Roldan. In the Instagram post, Roldan uploaded the match result of Argentina’s dominant victory over Uruguay in 2021. The caption praised Messi’s magic. The Instagram post was enough for Ronaldo fans to claim that Roldan is a fan of Lionel Messi.
The referee of the Al Nassr Al Hilal game 😂 pic.twitter.com/yjridHrjUu
— fan (@NoodleHairCR7) December 1, 2023
On a closer look, the picture becomes clear. The Instagram account in context with username @wilmar.roldan.oficial is a random inactive account that has uploaded 52 posts and all the posts are similar. The tweet from the fan is taking a post about Argentina and using it to prove his angle. Furthermore, the account is inactive and probably is just a fan account of Roldan claiming to be official.
On simple research about Wilmar Roldan on social media, several inactive accounts pop up on Instagram, all of them are inactive and none of them can be claimed as the official one or can prove that Roldan is a Lionel Messi fan. Furthermore, being a Messi fan doesn’t mean that Roldan gave away the calls against Al-Nassr. This post can be regarded as a baseless internet speculation.
Cristiano Ronaldo asked for Wilmar Roldan to officiate the match between Al-Nassr and Al-Hilal
The speculation can also be disregarded with the ‘Messi fan’ angle due to the fact Ronaldo himself asked for Roldan to officiate this clash for Al-Nassr. On November 27, Roldan was confirmed as the match official for the clash. Some eyebrows were raised due to the fact the referee was foreign to the Saudi Pro League. The Colombian has officiated only one game before this clash in the Saudi Pro League.
A new layer was added when former referee and analyst José Borda revealed that Ronaldo was influential in the decision. He stated: “He [Ronaldo] asked for it! Colombian referee Wilmar Roldán will “repeat” in the Arab League, as he will direct the game Al Hilal vs. Al Nassr, next Friday, December 1 at the King Fahd Stadium in Riyadh.”
Referee celebrating with Al Hilal players after beating Al Nassr 3-0pic.twitter.com/I16CaWhRnb
— Troll Football (@TrollFootball) December 1, 2023
Soccer is a sport where there are always big calls that can go either side and can take the spotlight, the case was the same in this crunch clash. After the result, Al-Hilal increased the gap at the top to seven points. They now have 41 points in 15 matches, with 13 wins and zero defeats. For Al-Nassr, they sit second with 34 points, only four points ahead of third place, Al-Ahli.