Ronaldo provisionally suspended by Portugal over squad walkout

Cristiano Ronaldo has been provisionally suspended by the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF), which has opened disciplinary proceedings against the 41-year-old over his decision to walk out on the national team.

“Disciplinary proceedings have been initiated against Cristiano Ronaldo,” the FPF said on Saturday, classifying the case as “urgent” and confirming he is suspended until a final decision on his punishment, The Express Tribune reported, citing AFP.

According to Portuguese media, under the federation’s rules a player who misses training, a match or a national team activity faces a suspension of one to six months.

Why he walked out

Ronaldo left Portugal’s Nations League squad after being made to warm up as a substitute against Norway on September 27 without being brought on, and then learning he would not start against Denmark on October 1.

Ronaldo spent the whole of Portugal’s 2-1 win over Norway in Oslo on the bench. He then walked out of the training camp in Copenhagen hours after Jesus said he would be dropped for the Denmark game, writing on Instagram that he would “tell the truth to all the Portuguese people” about his reasons in due course. The federation said preparations would continue with the 24 remaining squad members.

He later accused coach Jorge Jesus of breaking his word about giving him game time. Ronaldo said Jesus had gone back on a promise to bring him on against Norway, and had not said a series of points the two had agreed before Jesus’s press conference ahead of the Denmark match.

One of those agreed points, Ronaldo said, was that Jesus had “made a mistake in asking someone of the stature of Pele or Maradona to warm up and then not sending him on in the match”.

‘I will be available’

Ronaldo apologised to supporters this week and said he would accept any punishment. He said he was not retiring from international football.

“I will be available, as I have always been until today, to compete and win for our national team,” he said, while accepting that his actions must be “punished”.

Jesus, 72, declined to respond. “I read the statement, and now, like I do every day, I’m going to the federation headquarters to work, to think about the Portuguese national team,” he said. He said last Sunday he would pick Ronaldo if the forward was playing for his club and wanted to be called up.

Records and form

• Ronaldo is the all-time top scorer and record appearance-maker in men’s international football
• He returned to club action on Friday with Saudi side Al-Nassr and scored in a 3-0 win over Diriyah, the 980th goal of his career
• Portugal have won all four of their Nations League matches and are already through to the quarter-finals

What comes next

Portugal host Denmark on November 14 and travel to Wales on November 17 for their final Nations League Group A4 games. The FPF has not said when it will decide on his punishment.

This article draws on reporting by The Express Tribune and AFP.