Missile interception near Riyadh delays Al Nassr match

The reported interception of a missile launched by the Houthis towards Riyadh delayed by an hour the Asian Champions League match between Cristiano Ronaldo’s club, Al Nassr, and Neftchi Fargana. The military coalition led by Saudi Arabia said on Monday evening that it had intercepted a ballistic missile fired towards the Saudi capital by pro-Iranian fighters.

Kick-off had initially been scheduled for 21:15, but was moved to 22:15. The official broadcaster of the match confirmed the change, saying that “kick-off had been delayed” by an hour.

Shortly before the interception was announced, AFP correspondents reported hearing explosions in Riyadh. At the same time, residents of the capital received an alert warning of a hostile aerial threat and urging them to remain at home or in a safe place, away from windows and doors, while continuing to follow civil defence instructions. The coalition later said it had “intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile launched by the Houthis towards Riyadh”.

Riyadh had recently faced attacks described as unprecedented since the start of the conflict in Yemen in 2014 between the Houthis, backed by Iran, and government forces. A coalition led by Saudi Arabia came to support the latter the following year.

Despite the incident, Cristiano Ronaldo scored the 981st goal of his career just before half-time. The delay changed the match schedule but did not prevent him from finding the net.