Al-Nassr will play the first leg of their AFC Champions League last 16 tie against Esteghlal in Tehran on Monday despite asking for a change of venue.
This will be Al-Nassr’s third game in Iran since Cristiano Ronaldo joined the Saudi Pro League club at the start of 2023.
Al-Nassr visited the Iranian capital in September 2023 when they beat Persepolis 2-0, with Ronaldo playing almost the entire match.
That game was played in front of thousands of empty seats as Persepolis were serving a stadium ban.
But Ronaldo’s presence in Iran still caused huge excitement and hundreds of fans stormed the team’s hotel in an attempt to get close to their footballing idol.
Police had to intervene to disperse the crowd and the event has since been described as a ‘bad experience’ for Ronaldo.
Cristiano Ronaldo pictured in action during Al-Nassr’s 2-0 win over Perspolis in Iran in 2023
He was given flowers upon his arrival in Tehran before fans stormed Al-Nassr’s team hotel
Al-Nassr’s win over Perspolis in 2023 was played in front of an empty stadium. However, a large crowd witnessed their latest meeting earlier this month – but Ronaldo did not play
Al-Nassr returned to Iran earlier this month to face Persepolis again in the final game of this season’s Champions League league phase but Ronaldo did not feature in a 0-0 draw.
Ronaldo did play the full 90 minutes in October when an Aymeric Laporte goal secured a 1-0 win at Esteghlal earlier in the league phase.
But that match, despite being categorised as an Esteghlal home game, actually took place in Dubai.
Al-Nassr wanted next week’s game to also take place at a neutral venue.
According to the DPA news agency, Al-Nassr wrote a letter to Esteghlal stating: ‘Given Ronaldo’s bad experience in Tehran last year, the match should be played on neutral ground.’
However, this request was rejected by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), while a top official in Iran is also understood to have dismissed it.
The match will therefore go ahead as planned at Tehran’s 78,116-capacity Azadi Stadium.
It is not currently clear whether Ronaldo will be part of the Al-Nassr squad for the first leg or if he will be held back and saved for the return game in Riyadh seven days later.