Early in the game, Ronaldo went down in the penalty area following a challenge and Chinese referee Ma Ning immediately pointed to the spot. However, the forward disagreed with the official’s decision and began wagging his finger to indicate Al-Nassr should not have been given a penalty.

He joined several Persepolis players in approaching the referee to protest the decision and could be seen mouthing the words: “No penalty”. Ning was then sent to review the incident on the pitchside monitor and ultimately changed his mind.

The penalty decision was overturned and Ronaldo was widely praised for his actions. “It’s great honesty and we need to see more of that,” Al-Markhiya manager Anthony Hudson said on beIN Sports.

“Part of him going there (to Saudi Arabia) is he wants to improve everything around the league. The standard of football, the quality of the games, the stadiums and I just think this is another area he wants to keep improving.

“Here we have one where it looks like a dive and now he’s been honest about it and he’s trying to improve a decision that’s incorrect.” The game ultimately ended 0-0, with Al-Nassr having defender Ali Lajami sent off in the 17th minute.

Despite dropping points against Persepolis, Al-Nassr remain top of their group after winning four of their five games so far and have already qualified for the knockouts. They also currently sit second in the Saudi Pro League, just four points behind league leaders Al-Hilal.

Al-Nassr were awarded a penalty for this challenge on Ronaldo, before the referee overturned his original decision

Ronaldo is the league’s top scorer with 15 goals in 13 games, with ex-Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic the only other player to have hit double figures with 11 goals in 12 appearances for Al-Hilal.

Ronaldo joined Al-Nassr at the start of the year after his contract with Manchester United was terminated following an explosive interview with Piers Morgan, where he said he felt “betrayed” by the club and did not respect manager Erik ten Hag.

His United contract was terminated by mutual consent during last year’s World Cup in Qatar and he ended up signing a lucrative two-year deal with Al-Nassr, becoming the sport’s first major star to make the move from Europe to Saudi Arabia.