The Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) announced on Monday that Cristiano Ronaldo received a 30-day suspension for leaving the Portuguese national team training camp.
The 41-year-old athlete suddenly left the Portuguese camp on September 30 during the UEFA Nations League, after which he accused coach Jorge Jesus of breaking a promise to give him playing time.
Ronaldo apologized to fans earlier in October, stating that he would accept any punishment imposed. The former player for Manchester United and Real Madrid must also pay a fine of 255 euros ($286).
He received the minimum penalty stipulated by the federation's regulations, which provides for suspensions from one to six months for leaving the national team. Ronaldo left the Portuguese squad after initially being called up as a substitute for Norway on September 27 but not being substituted, and then learning that he would not start against Denmark in the match on October 1.
Ronaldo's suspension takes effect from the day of the match against Denmark, meaning he has already served 19 days of his ban and will complete it by the end of October. The FPF disciplinary committee took into account the 'remorse demonstrated in the statement' that Ronaldo published on October 6, admitting his mistake and expressing willingness to accept the punishment.
The five-time Ballon d'Or winner is Portugal's top scorer and a record holder in men's international football matches. However, in his absence, Portugal won all four matches in the UEFA Nations League and qualified for the quarter-finals with two games in hand.
Portugal will face Denmark on November 14 and then play Wales on November 17 in the last two matches of its Group A4 in the UEFA Nations League—by this time, Ronaldo will have served his suspension period.
Immediately after his departure, Ronaldo posted on social media accusing Portugal's manager Jesus of breaking his promise to give him playing time in the UEFA Nations League matches, but insisted that he would not leave his international duties. He wrote: 'I will be available, as I always was, to compete and win for our national team.'
He claimed that Jesus broke his word regarding playing against Norway and also failed to state several agreed-upon points at the press conference before the match against Denmark. One of the pre-approved theses from Ronaldo was that Jesus 'made a mistake by asking someone of Pele or Maradona's level to warm up and then not playing him in the match.'
Jesus, several days later, stated that he would select Ronaldo for international matches if the forward played for his club Al-Nassr, and that he was interested in calling him up.
After the FPF announcement, Ronaldo did not directly react to the news on Instagram, but posted a photo of himself preparing for training with his Saudi club, captioning it: 'Working on myself.'