The Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) has provisionally suspended Cristiano Ronaldo following a fallout with head coach Jorge Jesus over an alleged breach of trust that led to the 41-year-old leaving Portugal’s UEFA Nations League camp.
As previously reported by Nigeria Intercept, Ronaldo featured in Portugal’s opening group game against Wales, playing for 67 minutes before being substituted. However, he remained an unused substitute for the entire 90 minutes of their second match against Norway, a development that reportedly sparked tensions.
Ronaldo subsequently left the national team’s camp ahead of their third group game and later released an official statement claiming that Jesus had failed to honour his promises. The forward also criticised the coach over comments made during a post-match press conference.
Ronaldo missed Portugal’s next two fixtures, in which they defeated Denmark and Norway to maintain their perfect record and secure top spot in Group A4 with four consecutive victories. His continued absence fuelled speculation that his international career could be over.
However, Jesus left the door open for the veteran forward’s return, telling reporters after Sunday’s victory over Norway: “If he wants to, he’ll return to the national team.”
The Portuguese Football Federation has now taken disciplinary action against Ronaldo, according to a report by Lisbon-based newspaper A Bola.
In a statement, the federation said: “Disciplinary proceedings were initiated against Cristiano Ronaldo, by decision of the non-professional section, on October 9, with the objective of ascertaining the potential disciplinary relevance of the facts reported on October 7.
“Without prejudice to the automatic preventive suspension to which he was subject until the date of initiation, a non-automatic preventive suspension of the player was determined and the proceedings were given urgent status.
“The proceedings were sent, on October 10, to the disciplinary instruction committee of the FPF (Portuguese Football Federation), with publicity excluded until the end of the investigation.”
