Portugal suspends Cristiano Ronaldo and initiates disciplinary proceedings after walkout

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The Portuguese soccer federation has suspended Cristiano Ronaldo and initiated disciplinary proceedings against the player for walking out on the team.

The federation said in a statement Saturday that the case has been referred to its disciplinary investigation committee and that its findings will remain confidential until its conclusions are reached.

The 41-year-old Ronaldo left the Portugal team camp during the international window in a dispute with new coach Jorge Jesus over a lack of playing time.

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In the games Ronaldo was either an unused substitute or absent, Portugal won all three and his replacement Gonçalo Ramos seized his chance by scoring three times.

Ronaldo ended the international break with a long post to his 679 million followers on Instagram, where he asked the Portugal coach to acknowledge a mistake in asking him to warm up on the sidelines and then not send them on the field against Norway. Jesus did not acknowledge any mistake.

The star wrote that he expected a suspension under federation rules but promised his fans “we will have one or more farewell matches.”

Ronaldo could possibly face a harsh punishment for leaving the training camp. The federation’s disciplinary regulations say that any player who “abandons or fails to appear” without justification at a training session, match or activity of the national teams “shall be sanctioned with a suspension of one to six months,” in addition to a fine.

Ronaldo did tell the federation that he was leaving, but it wasn’t clear whether the decision would be considered justified in accordance with the regulations.

“I have already apologized, but I know that actions must have consequences. Anyone in football as I am knows that, regardless of each person’s status, the rules are the same for everyone,” Ronaldo wrote in his statement this week.

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葡萄牙足球协会已暂停克里斯蒂亚诺·罗纳尔多的参赛资格，并对其擅离队外的行为启动了纪律处分程序。

该联合会周六发表声明称，此案已移交其纪律调查委员会，调查结果在得出结论之前将予以保密。

41岁的罗纳尔多在国际比赛日期间离开了葡萄牙国家队集训营，原因是与新任主教练豪尔赫·热苏斯就上场时间不足的问题发生了争执。

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在罗纳尔多未上场或缺席的比赛中，葡萄牙队全部获胜，而他的替补贡萨洛·拉莫斯抓住了机会，上演了帽子戏法。

国际比赛日结束后，C罗在Instagram上向他的6.79亿粉丝发布了一篇长文，要求葡萄牙主教练承认错误：让他在场边热身，却没有让他上场对阵挪威。热苏斯并未承认任何错误。

这位球星写道，他预料到会根据联合会的规定被禁赛，但他向球迷承诺“我们会进行一场或多场告别赛”。

罗纳尔多可能因擅自离开训练营而面临严厉处罚。足协纪律条例规定，任何球员若无正当理由“擅自退出或缺席”国家队的训练、比赛或其他活动，“将被处以一至六个月的禁赛处罚”，并处以罚款。

罗纳尔多确实告诉足协他要离开，但目前还不清楚这一决定是否符合相关规定。

“我已经道歉了，但我知道任何行为都必须承担后果。任何像我一样身处足球圈的人都知道，无论个人地位如何，规则对每个人都是一样的，”罗纳尔多本周在声明中写道。