According to the decision by FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee, accessed by LUSA news agency, the 40-year-old player was handed a three-match ban after being sent off with a straight red card in the 2-0 defeat to the Republic of Ireland on November 13th, during the fifth and penultimate round of Group F in the European qualifiers for the World Cup.
Ronaldo served his suspension three days later, missing the home win over Armenia (9-1) in Porto, which secured Portugal’s ninth, and seventh consecutive, appearance at the world’s top national team competition.
This came before FIFA reviewed the Portuguese Football Federation’s (FPF) appeal to ensure the forward would not be suspended for more than one match, following his first-ever sending off in 226 international appearances.
Mitigating factors power appeal
The appeal was prepared after the defeat in Dublin, with direct involvement from FPF president Pedro Proenca, and focused on three main points: the pre-match atmosphere created by the Republic of Ireland’s coach, the incident that led to Ronaldo’s red card, and the absence of any prior disciplinary record for the superstar from Madeira.
According to the committee, comments made by Icelandic coach Heimir Hallgrimsson, who accused the striker of influencing the refereeing in Portugal’s 1-0 win over Ireland on October 11th in Lisbon (Group F, matchday three), created "a clearly and demonstrably hostile environment" around the national team captain.
The FPF also argued that, in the incident leading to the red card, Ronaldo "was, as on many other occasions during the match, blatantly held inside the box" and reacted "out of frustration" in the 61st minute, when he elbowed Irish centre-back Dara O’Shea and was punished by Swedish referee Glenn Nyberg, with the help of VAR.
The federation, led by Pedro Proenca, also pointed to the striker’s clean record and highlighted that he had never been sent off "in more than 200 matches for the national team, which is truly remarkable and proves his consistently exemplary conduct."
The FPF believed these arguments were "more than sufficient mitigating factors" to convince FIFA that Ronaldo did not deserve more than a one-match suspension, a goal that was achieved with the sanction imposed on the captain.
Ronaldo handed one-year 'probation period'
Of the three-match ban, the last two are suspended for a one-year probation period, meaning Portugal’s record holder for appearances (226) and goals (143) will be able to play in the team’s opening group stage match at the 23rd edition of the World Cup.
"If the respondent commits another offence of a similar nature and gravity during the probation period, the suspended sanction will be automatically revoked, and the remaining two matches must be served immediately in the next official match(es) of the Portuguese national team. This does not preclude any additional sanctions imposed for the new offence," explained the FIFA Disciplinary Committee, which also imposed a fine of 5,000 Swiss francs (about 5,400 euros at current exchange rates).
The World Cup final tournament draw is scheduled for December 5th in Washington, and the competition will take place from June 11th to July 19th next year.
For the first time, 48 teams will participate in a unique event hosted by the United States, Mexico, and Canada, all of whom automatically qualified.
After securing direct qualification, Portugal have not got any more official matches scheduled until their World Cup debut, but are expected to play warm-up games during the next international breaks in March and June, with opponents, dates, and venues yet to be determined.
