Cristiano Ronaldo has left the Portugal national team’s training camp, a walkout that could cost him a suspension of between one and six months and a financial penalty under the disciplinary regulations of the Portuguese Football Federation.
His departure came in the wake of a press conference given by national team coach Jorge Jesus, in which the coach defended his authority to decide the lineups. After those words, Ronaldo headed from Copenhagen to Madrid on his private plane.
The federation confirmed on Wednesday afternoon, in a statement, that Ronaldo was leaving the camp, but offered no explanation for the decision. It added that preparations for the upcoming matches against Denmark and Norway would continue as planned with the other 24 players called up. “The entire delegation remains fully focused on the national team’s upcoming commitments and on achieving the defined objectives,” the body stated.
The rules Ronaldo could be judged under are explicit. “Any player who, having been duly called up, unjustifiably leaves or fails to attend a training session, a match or any activity of the national teams or related to the sporting representation of the FPF or Portugal, shall be sanctioned with a suspension from one to six months and, additionally, if the player is a professional, with a fine of between 5 and 10 UCs,” the regulations state, a range of roughly 500 to 1,000 euros calculated at 102 euros per unit of account. The second paragraph of article 160 of the FPF Regulations adds that absence or abandonment entails the automatic preventive suspension of the player.
Ronaldo addressed the decision himself on social media, saying he would explain his reasons at a later date. “After the national team coach’s press conference, and following a conversation with the president of the Portuguese Football Federation, I decided to leave the National Team’s training camp. In due course I will tell all Portuguese people the truth about the reasons that led me to leave the national team to which I have always devoted myself. Now is the time to wish Portugal and all my teammates, without exception, good luck,” he wrote.
Beyond the immediate disciplinary question, the episode also raises the prospect that Ronaldo may not return to the national team at all, a point made by the Portuguese newspaper O Jogo.