FIFA was therefore lenient with Cristiano Ronaldo. Author of a nasty elbow in the back of Dara O’Shea on November 13 in Dublin, during the Ireland-Portugal match (2-0) counting for the qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup, the Seleçao striker ultimately received only a single match suspension.
The international federation was clearly sensitive to the fact that this was the very first red card received by “CR7” in 226 caps with his national team. A real relief for the five-time Ballon d’Or, who has already served his sentence by not participating in the correction inflicted by the Portuguese on Armenia (9-1), three days later.
Cristiano Ronaldo, a sanction that does not pass
If he had been suspended for three matches, as stipulated in the regulations in the case of an intentional violent gesture, the star scorer of Al-Nassr (40 years old) would have missed the first two matches of the North American World Cup next summer. Which would have been detrimental for him, who will be playing his last major international competition, and FIFA.
This indulgence on the part of the authority did not fail to puzzle the specialized press. Including in Portugal, where
In Bola believes that there is “double standards” and that a player other than Cristiano Ronaldo would probably not have been forgiven in this way. Many newspapers, the image of Daily Mailalso note that this decision is “unpublished”.
Some go even further by speaking outright about
“scandal”. Because it has escaped no one’s attention that this sanction was announced a few days after the summit meeting between the native of Funchal and the President of the United States Donald Trump at the White House, notably in the company of… Gianni Infantino, the president of FIFA.
Visiting the White House with… the FIFA President
For the Telegraphthe former Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus star benefited from a
“surprise decision”. Same astonishment in Argentina for Oléand in Spain for A.S.which denounces a ” trick “ on the part of the international federation to allow the Portuguese captain to be cleared for the kick-off of the “World Cup”.
“Cristiano Ronaldo was literally pardoned. How is this possible? »is indignant Corriere dello Sportin Italy. The two additional suspension matches that “CR7” should have taken will only fall if he commits a bad act again. A way for FIFA to keep up appearances without completely contradicting its regulations.
