Ronaldo remains the face of the Saudi soccer league as the season kicks off

Ronaldo is still a name above all others when attention turns to the Saudi soccer league's season-opening round.

Just like it was earlier this month when more than 30,000 fans turned out in Hong Kong to watch Al-Nassr defeat Al-Ittihad 2-1 in the first semifinal of the Saudi Super Cup on Aug. 19, he's part of the league's growth and marketing plans.

“The majority can only be described as Cristiano Ronaldo fans,” Chris KL Lau, a Hong Kong resident and fan, told The Associated Press. “The match had an electric buzz and each time Ronaldo had the ball there was excitement.”

The Portuguese star was mobbed the following day when he visited the city’s official Cristiano Ronaldo museum. “Fans have travelled from across China, Saudi Arabia and the Asia-Pacific to see him,” Lau said.

After Ronaldo left Manchester United and joined the Saudi Pro League in December 2022, other big names followed to Riyadh, Jeddah and elsewhere, including Karim Benzema, Neymar and Riyad Mahrez. The ‘Big Four’ — Al-Nassr, Ittihad as well as Al-Hilal and Al-Ahli — were taken over by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund in 2023 and have budgets as big as ambitions.

The league season kicked off Thursday with three games. Ronaldo's Al Nassr opens Friday against Al Taawoun.

While the five-time Ballon d’Or winner is still the international face of the league, backers are working to expand the reach of the league. But the importance of Ronaldo's presense was evident in the second game at Hong Kong Stadium between Al-Ahli and Al-Qadsiah, when organizers announced a crowd of 16,000. Some doubt that figure.

“Those who were at the game reckon only 5,000 to 6,000 fans were inside,” Lau said “Fans were happy to splash the cash for Ronaldo but were less inclined to do so for Al-Ahli and Al Qadsiah. This resulted in rows of empty seats."

Simon Chadwick, a specialist in the relationship between sports, geopolitics and economics, said while people are aware Ronaldo plays in Saudi Arabia, “It's questionable just how much they know about Al-Nassr or the Pro League.”

“He has been helpful in raising global awareness of Saudi football," Chadwick, professor of Afro-Eurasian Sport at Emlyon Business School in Paris, told AP, "but there needs to be greater depth and more sustainable engagement in relations with fans.”

Wael Al Fayez, the league's chief commercial officer, says that is already happening.

“Last season, we reached a record 180 countries worldwide, up from 150 the year before,” Al Fayez said. “On the sponsorship side, international deals have surged by 200%, which reflects real, measurable growth. On social media, our following grew from 11 million to 15 million last season, with a 60% jump in engagement.”

Playing games overseas is another strategy. As Lau, the fan in Hong Kong, noted: “Media coverage here means it was impossible not to be aware of these matches."

Attracting fans around the world, as major European clubs such as Real Madrid and Liverpool already do, is a long process.

“If Saudi clubs are to compete on the same basis, it will take decades to build a global fan base,” Chadwick said. ”So they need to tell a different story to people. The likes of Al-Nassr and Al-Hilal need to give fans something that they can’t get elsewhere.”

This could involve becoming Asia’s premier club team.

“Currently, there is no obvious candidate that qualifies as Asia’s No. 1 club or brand," Chadwick said, "so why shouldn’t this be a Saudi club?”

Domination of Asian continental club competitions will help.

The investment in players has clearly increased standards. Three of the four semifinalists in last season's Asian Champions League were from Saudi Arabia, with Al-Ahli going on to win the title.

At the Club World Cup in August, Al-Hilal was the only Asian team to make a big impact, drawing with Real Madrid in the group stage and then defeating Manchester City 4-3 in the round of 16.

“The appetite for football globally is growing, and the Saudi Pro League is on its way to become the home of football outside Europe,” Al-Fayez said. “It’s been an incredible start to our journey, and the momentum is undeniable.”

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Al Nassr's Cristiano Ronaldo takes a shot during the Saudi Super Cup final soccer match between Al Ahli and Al Nassr at the Hong Kong Stadium in Hong Kong, Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)

Al Nassr's Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates after scoring a goal with a penalty kick during the Saudi Super Cup final soccer match between Al Ahli and Al Nassr at the Hong Kong Stadium in Hong Kong, Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)

Al Nassr's Cristiano Ronaldo scores a goal with a penalty kick during the Saudi Super Cup final soccer match between Al Ahli and Al Nassr at the Hong Kong Stadium in Hong Kong, Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A 24-year-old man was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the death of an elderly Thai man whose 2021 killing in San Francisco helped spark a national movement against anti-Asian American violence.

A jury did not find Antoine Watson guilty of murder when it returned a verdict Thursday for the January 2021 attack on 84-year-old Vicha Ratanapakdee. Jurors found Watson guilty on the lesser charges of involuntary manslaughter and assault.

The office of San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins declined to comment, saying that the jury was still empaneled. Jurors will return Jan. 26 to hear arguments on aggravating factors and sentencing will be scheduled once that is completed, the office said in an email.

Vicha Ratanapakdee was out for his usual morning walk in the quiet neighborhood he lived in with his wife, daughter and her family when Watson charged at him and knocked him to the ground. The encounter was captured on a neighbor's security camera. Ratanapakdee died two days later, never regaining consciousness.

His family says he was attacked because of his race, but hate crime charges were not filed and the argument was not raised in trial. Prosecutors have said hate crimes are difficult to prove absent statements by the suspect.

Watson testified on the stand that he was in a haze of confusion and anger at the time of the unprovoked attack, according to KRON-TV. He said he lashed out and didn't know that Ratanapakdee was Asian or elderly.

San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju, whose office defended Watson, extended his sympathies to the victim's family and said the defendant is “fully remorseful for his mistake.”

“While this death was a terrible tragedy and has garnered a lot of press attention, the importance of our legal system is that it gives us a chance to look at the facts in a balanced way,” he said in a statement.

Hundreds of people in five other U.S. cities joined in commemorating the anniversary of Ratanapakdee's death in 2022, all of them seeking justice for Asian Americans who have been harassed, assaulted, and even killed in alarming numbers since the start of the pandemic.

Asians in America have long been subject to prejudice and discrimination, but the attacks escalated sharply after the coronavirus first appeared in late 2019 in Wuhan, China. More than 10,000 hate incidents against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders were reported to the Stop AAPI Hate coalition from March 2020 through September 2021.

The incidents involved shunning, racist taunting and physical assaults.

FILE - Flowers are left with pictures of 84-year-old Vicha Ratanapakdee during a rally attended by hundreds of people on Jan. 30, 2022, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Janie Har, File)

FILE - Monthanus Ratanapakdee holds a photo of her father, 84-year-old Vicha Ratanapakdee, and stands in front of the San Francisco apartment building where he was attacked last year and later died of his injuries, on Jan. 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Terry Chea, File)