Jurassic Park sounded great considering the spectacular beasts on display, but once they started doing their own thing, chaos ensued. Sure, spectacular goals from Tyrannosaurus Cristiano Ronaldo and arguably Velociraptor Karim Benzema make headlines around the world, but the Saudi Professional League has realized that when they start flexing their muscles off the pitch, they attract even more attention and pose a huge problem for the competition.

What happened on SPL’s manic Monday should have been about what happened on the pitch. First place Al Hilal drew with third place Al Ahly. Al Nasr won and maintained second place, closing in on the leader by one point. If Brendan Rodgers, who enjoyed a good performance at Al Qadizia, wins the match, he will split the top four with four points with just over a third of the season remaining. This is the kind of title race most leagues would prefer.

But it was all in the shadows. Sadio Mane scored Al Nasr’s only goal, but where was his teammate Ronaldo, who has become the face of the league since signing on the final day of 2022? Reports back home suggested he was on strike.

The 40-year-old is said to be dissatisfied with the relative lack of investment the club has received in this transfer window and is considering leaving despite reportedly earning around £490,000 a day. Al Nasr are owned by the Public Investment Fund, which also supports other members of the ‘Big Four’, namely Al Nasr’s city rivals Al Hilal, and Jeddah clubs Al Ittihad and Al Ahly.

Ronaldo is yet to win a major trophy in Saudi Arabia, but this season has been different under coach Jorge Jesus, who guided Al Hilal to the 2024 title. However, mid-season reinforcements were disappointing, with the only addition being young Iraqi midfielder Heidia Abdulkarem.

Al Hilal criticized Rennes’ Mohamed Meite, former Arsenal centre-back Pablo Mari, several Saudi international players and, most memorably, Benzema. The former France international striker played a major role in helping Al Ittihad win the title last season, but has not been able to do as much this time around as the team has struggled.

It has been theorized that Ronaldo may have gone on strike to persuade the PIF not to allow Al Hilal to welcome his former Real Madrid teammate into the squad. The fund is said to be keen to ensure Benzema remains in the country.

Relations between Benzema and Al Ittihad have deteriorated in recent weeks. He will join in the summer of 2023 and the 38-year-old was hoping for a new contract. However, no agreement was reached, and it was reported that Benzema will continue to pursue a strike strategy. He joined Darwin Nunez and Ruben Neves in Riyadh’s blue team, scoring 54 goals in 83 appearances for Al Ittihad.

His farewell message to Al Ittihad fans on social media thanked him for the “welcome, love and energy you give me every day”, but that won’t stop him from getting excited the next time he plays for Al Ittihad.

It can be forgiven that Ronaldo doesn’t want Al Hilal to strengthen their proven, if somewhat injury-prone, goalscorer, but if that’s true, the departure of a highly paid workforce would be hard to overlook. He may face a backlash for the first time as he is on a different level to Benzema and appears to have thrown the toy when things didn’t go his way. There have been murmurings of suggestive gestures and red cards in the past, but for the most part he is seen as having a great legacy as the face of the league.

Despite the influx of megastars in recent years, it’s no wonder fans are nostalgic for the old days. Sami Al Jabar, who has played more than 150 games for Saudi Arabia and was briefly loaned to Wolves, has never seen anything like it before.

“Some world-famous foreign players are using the international media to increase their influence, not only in the spotlight but even controlling the decisions of their clubs,” he told Saudi TV, adding that they could now sway the game in their favor.

“The uncontrollable behavior and excessive power of world stars poses a real crisis within the league, as their influence can sometimes exceed that of the clubs themselves.”

If influencer Al Jabar’s comments are to be based on any basis, then Ronaldo will have to give some explanation and the league is facing some soul searching and must decide who is in charge: the PIF, the league, the clubs or the big beast that seems to be running amok?