Cristiano Ronaldo has already been provisionally suspended and is not allowed to represent the Portuguese national team. This was revealed by sports lawyer Gonçalo Almeida to the Portuguese sports daily A Bola.
The reason for this is his arbitrary departure from the "sailors" camp on September 30, just before the match against Denmark.
According to art. 160 of the Disciplinary Regulations of the Portuguese Football Federation, any regularly called-up player who unjustifiably leaves or fails to appear at a training session, match or official event of the national team is subject to a penalty of 1 to 6 months of deprivation of competitive rights and a fine of 510 to 1020 euros. In addition, the rules themselves provide for an automatic temporary suspension from the team until a final decision is made.
The case will be reviewed by the Disciplinary Committee of the Portuguese Federation. According to the lawyer, who is also a judge at the FIFA Football Tribunal, the sanction for Ronaldo is inevitable, but there are serious factors that can significantly reduce it.
On October 6, Ronaldo published an official statement on social networks, in which he took full responsibility for his actions and stated that he accepts the consequences without apologies. This public admission allows him to take advantage of art. 244 of the regulations, which reduces the minimum and maximum penalty thresholds by half.
Although the captaincy is considered an aggravating circumstance, the lack of previous disciplinary infractions and his more than 20 years of exceptional service to Portuguese football will be taken into account.
In the best-case scenario, Ronaldo's minimum sanction could be reduced to 15 days of suspension and a fine of 255 euros.
The Disciplinary Committee is expected to make a decision as soon as possible. As the period of the provisional suspension has already expired, there is a high probability that Cristiano Ronaldo will be available to the coach again for Portugal's next matches in November.